Author: Matt Perry

It was another cool day in the canyon, with temperatures hovering in the 30’s. The snow that had accumulated yesterday on and in the box (as well as on the verandas) had melted by the end of the day. That meant that Astrid and Ares didn’t have to do any shoveling. Too bad, that would have been interesting. One of the falcons, we think Astrid, was in view on the State Building as early as 4:20 AM. Both were there just before 5:00. A half hour later, Ares made his first visit to the nest box, but he didn’t stay long. At 6 PM he was plucking prey on a window ledge west of the nest box. We weren’t sure if he tried to gift the food to Astrid or not. At 6:15, the pair shared a ledge display at the box. What made their display somewhat unusual was that Astrid was interacting from the west side of the “dance floor”. Even when they rotate around each other, she almost invariably ends up on the west side of the box. At any rate, Ares didn’t seem to be put off by it. After the dance, Ares did his trademark cowabunga dive out of the box and Astrid made a nice scrape. A minute later a small flock of Pigeons flew by and she dove out in pursuit.

The pair remained very active for the next hour – zooming about the canyon and alighting on numerous perches and, of course, coming to the box. Just before 8 AM, Ares arrived at the box with a Starling in his talons. He partially plucked it right there in the box. After which, he flew off with it, came back with it, flew off again, and then returned without it. Did he store the food or give it to his mate? We didn’t know.  He made a few more short visits to the box during the mid-morning hours and then we mostly lost track of them. Finally at 11:30, Deb found the pair loafing on the east face of the State Building – that’s a place our cameras are blind to. The couple was back to the nest box for a quick but lively dance at 1:15 PM. This time Astrid flew off first and Ares remained at the box. He made a scrape and then ingested a few small stones. By this point, we still hadn’t confirmed any mating attempts, but they are easily missed when they take place off camera and outside of microphone range. At 3 PM, there was another food exchange at the box. Astrid ripped the food away from Ares and dove out like a thief. Ares in particular was very active for the balance of the afternoon – popping in and out of the box, giving long calls and darting around the canyon. If there was a mating, it probably took place during this time window. Both converged at the box again at five o’clock, but there was no display, mating, or food exchange. Just a fast conversation and then she was off again. That was the last we saw of her for the day. Ares made a couple of more visits to the box and then he retired for the night at 5:45.

Heavy, wet snow fell all day long. Wind picked up later in the day and blizzard-like conditions prevailed. Snow obscured some of our cameras and so our ability to keep track of Astrid and Ares was limited. Temperatures were in the high 20’s for most of the day. Ares was heard screeching a few times before arriving at the nest box at just before 5 AM. He occasionally gave light squeaks as well as other interactive-type calls which led us to believe that Astrid was nearby. At 5:20, she flew by the nest box. It was a labored-looking or even fluttery-type flight which made her resemble a big moth. An hour later she was visible perched on the north face of the State Office Building.

He remained at the box until about 7:30, and then we weren’t sure where he went. At 8:30, he returned to the box, ate a few stones and then headed toward the State Building. At 12:30, he was heard screeching again and shortly thereafter he was seen perched on the State Building. He took a ledge that was just a few windows away from Astrid. They were both gone from those perches by 2:40. An hour later, Ares emerged from the blizzard with prey in his talons. It’s amazing he is able to catch something in this kind of weather. He brought it into the nest box and partially plucked it. Five minutes later he was gone again. Did he gift the meal to Astrid? We had no way of knowing, but at 4:10, he returned to the box with what looked like the same prey item. However, it looked to be whittled down some, like he had been eating it himself. Within a few minutes, Astrid joined him at the box, but there was no ledge display. At 5 PM Astrid came to the box one more time, but didn’t stay long. Ares visited shortly after, and that was the last time they were seen for the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much nicer day for the falcons and for everyone else too!

 

The first day of March started out cool and cloudy. A dense fog formed in the upland hills, but fortunately not in the falcons’ downtown canyon. The day did remain overcast and rather subdued lighting persisted. That made it difficult to get good still pictures from our cameras. Temperatures were in the 40’s. Large mixed blackbird flocks as well as flocks of Canada Geese streamed overhead and their calls were occasionally audible on our nest box microphone. Astrid and Ares were visible on the State Office Building before 5:00 AM this morning, but Ares held off coming to the box until just after 6 o’clock. As per usual, he was full of energy right of the bat. He didn’t linger for long at the nest box; instead he opted to take a perch on the northwest corner of the State Building’s roof. I recall at one point looking away from the monitor for a moment and then, poof, suddenly he was there in the box again. Well, I hear they are the fastest birds in the world. That’s something to live up to. At 7:00, Astrid joined Ares in the box for a ledge display. An hour later, Ares was on the hotel de-feathering a large bird – possibly a Mourning Dove. After taking his portion off the top he delivered the remainder of it to Astrid at the nest box. She took her breakfast over to the steeple and ate heartily. At 8:45, there was a failed mating attempt right there on the steeple. An hour later, a second failed attempt occurred. Astrid was just too close to the building again and he didn’t have enough clearance. Didn’t she read the manual?

Deb thought she heard Ares’ mating chatter , but it seemed too short and would have been another failure. At 10:50, Astrid was perched on a window ledge just west of the nest box’s veranda. There a successful mating took place. About 15 minutes later, Ares brought another food tribute to the nest box. Astrid wasn’t interested in accepting the gift and so Ares went off and stowed it somewhere. By 11:35, there were two more mating attempts but only the last one was successful. A period of relative calm in the canyon was broken at 12:40 PM, when Ares dashed around the State Building with purpose and then shot off to the northwest like a fighter jet. Astrid left her perch on the ADK Bank at about the same time. We had no idea what they were up to, but we had no reason to believe there was an intruder involved. We heard no alarm calls and saw no strange falcon.

Ares was back at the box by 1:20 PM and Astrid appeared shortly after that. She may have arrived before that, but she was concealed from our view on the south side of the steeple. Within a few minutes she was at the box and the pair did some lively vocalizing. She flew off and again, he followed right behind her. He circled the steeple and headed southwest past the State Building, but within a few minutes he appeared on the roof of the same building and she was back on the steeple. They then switched places and suddenly she was at the box and he was on the steeple. I don’t know about the birds, but we were starting to get dizzy. At 3:15, Ares came to the net box with prey – probably the remains of a Mourning Dove. Astrid showed no inclination to come over and accept it so it went back into storage in one of Ares’ many cupboards. By the end of the afternoon, Astrid was on ADK Bank, just west of the nest box and Ares was on the southwest corner of the hotel with the Utica Marsh behind him. They remained in those places until nearly 6 PM, when the two of them flew almost simultaneously to their night perches.

The day began on a cool note but a significant warmup was in store. Temperatures peaked out near 60 degrees. Ares came to the box with a fresh Woodcock at 5:20 AM and Astrid was right on his heels. He waited there on the perch with the bulky sandpiper dangling down from his left foot, but Astrid made no move to take it. After a few minutes, he flew off with the prey and stored it somewhere out of view. Soon both falcons were perched on the State Office Building.  Just after 6:30 AM, the pair converged at the box again and shared a spirited ledge display. Following the dance, Ares dashed over to a perch on the State Building and Astrid ingested a few small stones from the floor of the nest box. There’s nothing quite like stones for breakfast!

The first mating of the day took place on the State Building at 7:50. Directly after that, Astrid made a very loud arrival to the box (she actually startled Deb in her office!) Ten minutes later, the pair mated again – this time on the nest box’s long perch. At just before 9 AM, Ares was seen feeding on something over on the hotel ledge. It wasn’t clear what the prey was, but it wasn’t the Woodcock he tried to give to Astrid earlier. Only a few minutes later, he gifted the leftovers to Astrid. She took them over to one of the steeple perches and made short work of it – tearing away at it like she hadn’t eaten in a week. At 10:30, Astrid flew from the steeple and Ares flew right after her. He does like to keep close tabs on his mate particularly at this time of year. He was back at the box with another gift at 11:00. This time it appeared to be a Red-winged Blackbird. She came promptly to take it off his hands. Again, she took her meal over to the steeple and polished it off. Fifteen minutes later, there was a failed mating attempt. Astrid was too close to the wall of the steeple and Ares didn’t have enough clearance to come down on her. These things happen.

The falcons were somewhat hard to keep track of in the early afternoon, but we don’t think they were very active, that is besides Ares’ compulsive visits to the nest box. In the second half of the afternoon, the pair stayed mostly in view – perched on the State Building. Ares continued visiting the box regularly and at 4 PM, he landed on the cross perch with a Woodcock. It appeared to be the same one that he tried to give to Astrid in the early morning. Now it seemed to be headless and that, no doubt, made it easier to carry around. Again, she showed no interest in it so he returned it to the larder. We probably haven’t seen the last of that prey. Things in the canyon were remained status quo for the balance of the day. Astrid remained on the State Building and Ares bounced in and out of the nest box at irregular intervals. Rain arrived with strong winds in the early evening, but didn’t alter their behavior much. A group of crows flew right through the heart of the canyon and were barely acknowledged by the falcons. One crow flew very close to Astrid, but elicited no response. Finally Ares left his perch on the north face of the State Building at just before 6 PM, and Astrid followed about five minutes later. Goodnight falcons.

 

The day started out cool, but warmed up fairly quickly with temperatures ultimately reaching into the 50’s. It was windy and the skies were mostly clear, which is just how falcons like it. The falcons made their morning debut well before sunrise when they simultaneously piled into the nest box at 4:55 AM. They vocalized a bit and then Astrid soared over to a ledge on the State Building. Meanwhile, Ares kept his vigil at the box, periodically giving long screech calls and looking anxious. He left the box at 5:50 and flew by Astrid once or twice. We are not sure if there was a mating attempt or not. His mating chatter was not heard, so there probably wasn’t one. However, about 20 minutes later, he tried again and they mated successfully. At 6:30, both birds again converged at the nest box. They gave loud interactive vocalizations, but didn’t engage in a ledge display.

At 7:30, Ares came to the box with a food offering. Astrid came over to take it, but instead of relinquishing it, he flew off and stored it somewhere. He was back within a few minutes and the pair mated again. Following that, Astrid took a perch on the Grace Church Steeple. Ares retrieved the meal from storage and started plucking it on the State Building. After he took a share of it, he gifted what remained to Astrid. She flew with it over to the ledge of the hotel where she quickly polished it off.  While she was so engaged, Ares was sprucing up his feathers on the nest box’s long perch. At 8:40, the pair mated again; this time on the steeple. They really seemed to be making up for Monday, when they were  observed mating only one time. Two hours later they mated on the steeple yet again!

At 11:15, Ares was at the box and suddenly gave out an alarm chatter call, but he didn’t leave the box. We thought there must have been an intruder, but since neither bird left their perches and since Ares seemed to be looking straight up, we figured the culprit was merely a migrant raptor passing overhead and nothing to be concerned about. Only five minutes later, Ares dashed out and immediately returned with a huge chunk of food – probably the remains of a Mourning Dove. He must have pulled it out of one of his many “cupboards” on the State Building. He chirped at Astrid to come and take it and when she failed to stir, he buzzed by her with it. She still wasn’t interested, so he flew by her again, still grasping the prey in one foot. We assumed that he put it back into storage after that, since neither bird was seen with it. Just after 1 PM, the pair mated on the State Building. They did seem to be going for a record today; the record for the most matings by a Utica pair of Peregrine Falcons in the month of February.

Ares spent most of the afternoon, popping in and out of the box like a jack-in-the-box. He was chirping a lot and sometimes biting at stones. He wanted Astrid to come over in the worst way. At 3:30, Astrid seemed to be asking Ares to come over to mate again. He chirped back at her, but then his chirps turned into alarm calls – the type they give when an intruder is in the canyon. First Astrid took to the air and then (after a few minutes) Ares was up, but Deb noticed that their manner of flight more resembled leisurely soaring than aggressive pursuit.  Anyhow, no intruder was seen by Deb or recorded on the cameras. At 4:30 the pair converged at the box and shared a ledge display. After the dance, Astrid made at two scrapes into the stones on the floor of the box and then assumed a place on the perch for a while. At close to 5 PM, Ares was up on the Northwest corner of the State Building. The sun was starting to set behind him and it bathed him in light. He looked so tiny up there. It was hard to fathom; all that drive and personality was somehow packed into a two pound package. He was literally and figuratively on top of the world. His mate was in the box, which was right where he wanted her to be. Just then a group of four or five Ring-billed Gulls winged their way right through the canyon. Right after they passed by, Ares took off in their direction. We don’t know if he hazed them or not. Ares returned at close to 5:30 PM, but then we lost track of him. Astrid was visible on the corner of the County Building for a little while after that and then she left too. off to the night perches we thought.