Author: Matt Perry

The pre-dawn hours were mild and dry. Astrid came into camera view on the State Building just before 5 AM. Ares appeared on the roof of the same building at 6:15. An hour later he arrived at the nest box gripping a dead starling. Obviously this was meant as a food tribute for his mate, but Astrid wasn’t inclined to come over right away. Ares tried to peak her interest in the gift by buzzing by her high perch, but it still wasn’t working. He may have tried to entice her other ways as well, but not on camera. At 7:22, he was back at the box with the same prey. This time Astrid came and accepted the gift right there on the cross perch. She then brought it over to the steeple where it became her breakfast.

Just before eight o’clock, Ares gave a chirpy-type alarm call. The reason for the vocalization was to alert Astrid to the presence of an intruder in the canyon. Astrid was up in a flash and she and the interloper flew back and forth in front of the State Office Building several times. About ten minutes later, she landed on a ledge just west of the nest box. It’s not clear where the stranger was, but Ares was at the box proper. From her office, Deb was able to hear Astrid and Ares engage in an animated conversation. Following their discussion, both took to the air and presumably escorted the intruder out of the territory. The pair was gone for several minutes, after which Ares landed on the hotel ledge with prey (probably a Starling). Before leaving the hotel he let out a screech and then proceeded to bring his prize to the nest box. Deb heard Astrid calling, but wasn’t sure where she was perched. At about 9:15, she came to the box, but her visit was fleeting. A few minutes later, Ares was back at the box with the same prey he had before. Evidently it had been stowed somewhere. By then she was back at the State Building and didn’t seem interested in coming over to accept his tribute. That is, not until he left with it and returned again. For some reason that always makes a meal more interesting to falcons! This time she flew over to the box and unceremoniously yanked the food right out of his bill. From there she took it over to the State Building and deemed it brunch.

Surprisingly, we still had no confirmed mating at this point in the day. The pair spent the next hour and more perched on the State Building. The day had become sunny and by late morning a persistent wind had developed. These are conditions that falcons relish because it means free, effortless flying. Despite that our birds seemed content to remain on their perches.  At around 11 AM, they finally decided to do some soaring. Ares was the first to go. Deb saw him launch off the nest box perch and then just allow the wind to do all the work. Soon they were both tearing through the sky.

Ares made a few stops at the box in the early afternoon, while Astrid got some quality perching time in on the State Building. Finally, at 3 PM, the pair shared a ledge display at the nest box. The beginning of their dance involved plenty of beaking and the entire display lasted about 10 minutes. A little less than an hour later, Astird accepted another gift of food from her mate. At 5:10, the first mating attempt of the day (that we know of) happened. As it turned out it was a failed attempt, but a half hour later Ares gave a few long screeches, flew up to Astrid’s perch on the State Building, and tried again. This time it was a success and it also stood as the only confirmed mating of the day. The pair was out of camera view after that presumably they went off to their night perches.

 

It was rainy and dark in the pre-dawn hours. Temperatures were hovering at around 40 degrees. At 5:45, Astrid arrived at the nest box. She made a few “chirrup” calls but there was no sign of Ares. Perhaps he was sleeping in? I doubt it. It’s more likely he was attempting to hunt. He arrived at the nest box at 6:30 and the pair performed a ledge display. Unlike their last “dance” in which Ares seemed unsure of the rules (we think this was a consequence of his surprise ledge display with the intruder), this “dance” was much closer to the classic Astrid & Ares type. It featured their patented footwork, inimitable dosedo, and their gentle manner of beaking. The only noticeable difference with this display was that, at its conclusion, Astrid left the box first. An hour later when Ares vacated the box, he gave a volley of long screeches. We could hear his calls echoing through the canyon, but we couldn’t locate him.

At just before 9 AM, both falcons were at the box again. Well, sort-of. She was actually on the west veranda. Ares jumped out of the box and flew in a boomerang pattern. He came back chattering and mated with Astrid right there on the perch of the veranda. Directly after he made a short flight and managed to return with a small gift within two minutes. We think this may have been the fastest gifting after a mating we had ever observed. Astrid took the modest offering and (we think) ate it on the ADK Bank. Again today Ares was spending a lot of time at the nest box and often on one of the verandas. He was coming and going so much. He just seemed the very embodiment of energy and vitality. Just watching him was tiring us out. At 12:15 PM, Ares returned to the nest box and Astrid put down on a window ledge located west of the west veranda. Five minutes later they had mated again. Fifteen minutes after that another mating attempt happened, but that one failed . At 1 PM, the pair was back at the box and then they mated yet again, but this time they mixed it up some and did it on the east veranda. In mid-afternoon, the falcons were relatively low key. For a while, she was on the ADK Bank Building – located on a perch well west of the west veranda. At close to three o’clock, Astrid was back at the box. Ares came in and they mated one more time.

The rest of the afternoon was characterized by one or the other falcon at the box reacting to their partner’s flying antics. They would move their heads this way and that way as they followed the flight path of their partner. They would also vocalize as their counterpart dashed by. At one point while Ares was holding the fort, Astird zoomed by (probably after prey). Ares joined the chase, but we don’t think they managed to get anything. Indeed, he came right back to the box without prey in his talons. At 4:45, he screeched out of the box again and we could hear him continuing to screech in the canyon somewhere, but our technology wasn’t able to find him. Within 15 minutes, she was at the box; he boomeranged in and they mated yet again. That made a total of five full matings (at least) and one failed mating attempt for the day! That’s a quite an impressive number for this early in the season. The last falcon we saw this evening was Astrid. She was perched on the roof of the County Building and was possibly hunting. Either that or she was just watching the crows filter into the city from their rural and suburban homes.

The morning started out seasonably cool and a bit windy. Our falcons both landed near simultaneously at the nest box at 5:40 AM. Of course Ares was over-the-top with exciting. He doesn’t often get her to come to the box that early. Alas, she was only there for a moment before sailing over to a ledge on the State Building. Shortly after that, Ares was giving his trademark long screech calls, which is sometimes an antecedent to mating. It turned out to be prescient this time, and at 6:10, he swooped over to her perch and the pair shared a quick mating. It was pretty dark, but we could just make it out on the PTZ camera. Ares’ mating chatter call was also heard and that helped to confirm the act. At just before seven o’clock, Astrid was up and corralling the local Pigeon flock. She hadn’t been in the air for more than 15 seconds before Ares joined the enterprise. About an hour later, Ares came to the box and he was wiping his beak on the cross perch. This was either an indication that he had just fed or that he gave Astrid a food tribute – quite possibly both, but we didn’t know for sure. Even with multiple  cameras online we still miss a lot of the action.

Ares spends so much of his time being intense and hyper alert these days. It seems that he won’t calm down until there are eggs on the nest scrape. During the next hour, Ares bounced in and out of the box a few more times. They may have fit another mating attempt in that period, but nothing we could confirm. By 8:30, Ares was on the ledge of the hotel with prey. It was probably Pigeon leftovers, but we couldn’t be sure. He brought the food over to a window ledge on the ADK Bank. In fact he was just west of the west veranda, which was an unusual choice of feeding places. It seemed like his aim was to gift the food to Astrid, but he kept sampling it. Anyway, she wasn’t coming over, so why not? Eventually she did receive some and about an hour later she was spotted sitting on the hotel ledge with a chunk of prey right next to her.

After taking a short rest at the nest box, at 11 AM, Ares stretched his leg, fanned out his feathers, produced a few long calls, and the flew over to mate with Astrid. A half hour later he was the embodiment of excitement again. Astrid flew by him at least a couple of times in what may or may not have been a flight display for his benefit. For the last week or so, the pair has been enjoying perching on the roof of the State Office Building – usually on one or the other corners. They are like Kings and Queens of the world up there; certainly any house cat would be envious. From up there they get a commanding view of their territory and much more. They can see prey as well as any potential threats. At around noon, Ares was back to the box with more prey. This time it looked to be part of an American Woodcock – the first one of the season for the falcons. Ares took the food to the window ledge located west of the west veranda, and there he polished off most of the “gift”. I guess if Astrid had really wanted it she would’ve come by. Astrid had been on the steeple for a little while, but then the pair spent about two hours away from our cameras. Were they trying to hide form us?

At 3:15, Ares returned to the box and Astrid to the steeple, and 15 minutes later they mated right there on the spire. By 4:30 PM, both falcons were on the roof of the State Building. They took opposite corners of the roof and looked something like tiny bookends on a massive concrete shelf. While she stayed in place for a while, Ares performed a short flight display for his mate. It was possible that another mating attempt occurred at this time, but we weren’t certain. At 5:30, Ares returned to the nest box with a chunk of prey in tow. A few minutes later he delivered it to Astrid on the roof of the State Building. Now that’s service! For us this was somewhat reminiscent of when the parents make food drops to the fledglings. Before long, both falcons were stationed on either corners of the roof again, and that was the last place we saw them this evening. At a quarter of six, both had gone, presumably to their night perches.

 

The falcon’s morning began very early again today. Ares arrived at the nest box at 5 o’clock sharp. He let out several harsh screech calls and then sailed back into the darkness of the urban canyon. He was back at the box by 6:45 and that’s when Astrid joined him for a ledge display. It was an odd “dance” for these long-time partners. Ares spent most of the first ten minutes backed into the right corner of the box. Of course this was the first ledge display the pair held since two days before when a female intruder shared an unexpected dance with Ares. Interestingly, his behavior with Astrid was similar to the stand-offish and even defensive behavior that he showed with the stranger. However, the pair ended the display with some gentle beaking, which was good to see. That was in stark contrast to the almost sword-fight-like beaking he did with the stranger.

The pair partook in much flying around in the early to mid-morning time frame and they were difficult to keep track of. Deb thought they may have mated on the ADK Bank building at one point. At a little after 9 AM, Ares brought Astrid a food tribute, which she accepted and possibly ate on the State Building. Less than a half-hour later, she was seen with a larger piece of food that she may have caught herself or taken out of storage. The pair likely mated on the State Building at 11 AM. Ares spent most of the day coming and going from the box, and while he was there he was periodically giving long screeching calls. At 1:45 PM, Astrid was feeding on what seemed to be a fresh Pigeon on the hotel ledge. We don’t think Ares gifted it to her, so she probably caught it herself. Ares didn’t go over to join her or try to steal any, which was somewhat surprising. He seemed content to man the box while she pigged out. He did leave for a short while at around 2 o’clock. When he returned he seemed to have a partially full crop. Where he fed we haven’t the slightest clue; all we know is that he didn’t join Astrid.

Rain persisted through the afternoon and for the most part the falcons kept to their perches – her on the State Building and him at the box. At just before 5 PM, Astrid was on the County Building and appeared to be in hunting mode. That was surprising since she had eaten so much already. A few minutes later, Ares left his station at the box and mated with Astrid. Upon his return it was apparent he was still full of angst since he continued making his long screeching calls. Soon after that it was dark and both birds withdrew to their night perches.

 

Today we had a resurgence of winter-like weather. Despite that, the Utica Falcons were still thinking classic springtime thoughts. Ares was at the nest box by 5 AM. Astrid was barely visible on the State Building at the same time. Ares was occasionally issuing long screech calls into the darkness. Possibly this was a territorial proclamation to the world or maybe it was a signal to his mate that all systems were go.  He’s obviously ready for the breeding season to get underway. At 6:15, it wasn’t even daylight yet when Ares flew over and mated with her on the State Building. It was a real mating this time, unlike yesterday’s failed attempt. By seven o’clock, Astrid was on the ledge of the hotel plucking a Pigeon that she presumably had just procured.  Ares came over and tried to make a quick grab for some of it, but instead he only flew off in a puff of Pigeon feathers. Astrid started feeding on her meal, but she didn’t get far into it before she began trying to cough something up. Every time she tried to take a bite, she’d start to choke again. Finally she gave up on the meal and loped a few feet down the ledge. Ares showed up again and began feeding heartily. Astrid flew to her perch on the Grace Church steeple and, for a little while, it seemed she was trying to bring up whatever was stuck in her throat. Meanwhile, Ares vacated the hotel ledge. He had probably stored the leftovers somewhere.

By 8 o’clock, Astrid was back on the hotel and finishing the meal. Nobody saw it happen, but it’s likely that Ares brought her the leftovers as a tribute. Anyway, this time she finished the meal without any choking fits After that she returned to her steeple perch and Ares resumed his vigil at the nest box. Just before 8:30, they mated again, right there on the steeple. By 9 AM, snow began falling and the pair spent the balance of the morning on their respective perches. At about 3 PM, Ares had left the box, but in less than 10 minutes he was right back at the perch with most of a plucked Pigeon. It wasn’t clear where this meal came from, but it probably had been stored someplace. Astrid met him on the box’s perch and accepted the gift. She flew to the hotel with it and he joined her there.

Our monitoring was sketchy during this time, so we are not sure if both birds fed or not. A little later, Ares was at the box again. At 5:00, Ares dramatically left the box and Astrid dove from her perch on the State Building at the same time. It looked like she went straight down. Some vocalizing was heard, but we weren’t sure exactly what happened. Later, Ares was on the hotel eating some leftovers and Astrid had returned to the State Building. At a little after 6:00 PM, both falcons had gone off to their night perches in some undisclosed location. Goodnight falcons!