Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, May 7^th, 2023

It was cold overnight with temperatures in the high 30s. There was a dramatic warm up after sunrise. The temperature rose to 70 degrees by early afternoon. Astrid was tight on her nest through the night. Ares was first seen on the State Building at 4:20 AM. He was up and then back at 4:50. He came to the nest at 5:11 and the pair executed a quick switch. Astrid initially flew over to the west face of the State Building. As is her habit, we expect that she was checking the pantry for any viable meals. At 5:30 she was flying in front of the west face – again perusing the ledges. At 6:30 Astrid perched on the steeple. The next switch occurred at around 6:50 AM. Astrid took over on the eggs and Ares was a free agent in the canyon once again. At 10:15 Astrid was calling from the nest. We then heard Ares giving long calls from the steeple. He gave long calls on and off for the next 35 minutes and she continued answering him. At 10:54 the falcons did a rapid changing of the guard. Ares got behind Astrid and she immediately left the box. She flew over to a relatively low perch on the State Building as is her recent habit. At 11:33 Astrid was back on the steeple perch. She stayed there for about 25 minutes and then went to the hotel and sat in the sun for a little while. After her stunning session she was back to the steeple. She was out of view for quite a while after that.

At 2:00 PM Ares abruptly left the nest. We don’t know where Astrid was at that time but it was 70 degrees so we weren’t worried about the eggs being left alone. Most likely it was an intruder that brought Ares off the nest but we could not confirm that. He gave some long calls which meant that he was trying to call Astrid over. Less than 5 minutes after he left the eggs he returned and was back on them. At 2:23 Astrid showed up on the State Building. Ares gave some squeaking calls which tipped us off to her arrival. Ten minutes later Ares was giving a cackle type alarm call. Most probably that meant there was a non-falcon Raptor flying through the Canyon. At 2:55 PM Astrid was at the box, taking over incubation from Ares. Ares flew over to his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. A few minutes later we started hearing what we believed were muffled begging calls from a chick inside one of the eggs. Astrid jostled the eggs after we heard the sound which was another indication that one of the eggs was close to hatching. Indeed, the jostling is done to induce and/or assist hatching. Since the start of the Hatch window is May 8^th (tomorrow) this took us by surprise. Astrid throws us some curveballs on occasion, all so we don’t get too smug and think we know it all. At 5:32 Ares came to the box and we got a chance to see the eggs during the changeover. Sure enough, one of the eggs had a pip or a hole in it. The chick inside was using its egg tooth to bang its way out of this shell. This means we could have a hatch at anytime, most likely tonight or tomorrow morning. Surprisingly, Astrid allowed Ares a nice long turn on the eggs even though a hatch is imminent. She is full of surprises. At 6:40 Ares came off the eggs and went on to the crossperch. He was calling, although it wasn’t an alarm call. After only about 30 seconds he got back onto the eggs. It was then that Astrid arrived. Ares left quickly and she settled onto the eggs. Most likely she is in place for the night. These are exciting times! We should have the first hatch of the season by tomorrow. Goodnight all.

The Little Falls Peregrine Falcons now have two hatchlings in their nest on the Adirondack Bank Building in Little Falls. The first hatch occurred on May 6^th at 3:56 AM. The second hatch occurred at 4:36 PM. There are still two more eggs on the nest scrape, and we will be sure to report any further developments.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, May 6^th, 2023

It was chilly overnight with temperatures in the low 40s. A full moon and patchy fog made the Canyon look quite beautiful and mysterious. During the day the temperature shot up into the high 60’s for the first time in a while and the skies were cloudless. Astrid was on the nest all night long. Ares seemingly came out of nowhere to switch at 5:07 AM. It was a quick changeover. Astrid went to the State Building but soon was checking Ares’ pantry on the west face of the same building. At 5:24 she was over on the hotel and she was in hunting mode. She darted after something 20 minutes later. Apparently, she was unsuccessful and went back to the west face of the State Building to presumably recheck the pantry. At 6:06 her luck changed and she caught a Pigeon. She landed on the hotel with it and proceeded to pluck it. She had her breakfast while the sun rose. Interestingly, her shadow was cast on the wall behind her and made it look like there were two falcons feeding. She showed no sign of being distracted by her shadow. At 6:39 Astrid was done with her meal and she flew over to the steeple. She was back to the nest for a switch at 7:01. As she took over on the eggs, Ares flew over to the State Building. At 8:17 Astrid was vocalizing on the nest. Likely it had to do with something Ares was up to. At 10:52 she was calling again. This time it was in reaction to Ares flying through the canyon and landing on the State Building.

At 12:13 PM Ares came to the box and the Falcons switched. Astrid initially flew over to the State Building, but 20 minutes later she was on the hotel sunbathing. A couple of minutes later she was back to her steeple perch. At 1:10 she was up once more. The next changing of the guard occurred at 3:27. Astrid took over on the nest and Ares remained elusive for a while. At 3:57 Astrid was calling from the nest. That probably meant that she was watching Ares fly in and land somewhere. We thought we heard some long calls from Ares but they were distant and we could not confirm it. At 4:30 we noticed that Astrid was shuffling the eggs. Sometimes falcons do this to induce the eggs to hatch. It could be that she is sensing movement inside the eggs. At 5:23 Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. For the next hour or so he was making forays out from that perch. Likely he was hunting but he could have also been on the lookout for intruders. It seemed like he was not going to relieve Astrid before nightfall. However, Astrid seemed OK with that. At least she wasn’t calling to be relieved. Of course, I wrote that too soon. Ares came to the nest at 7:00 and the pair switched. Astrid was on the State Building for a while and then she was out of view. She returned for the last switch at 7:28 PM. Ares seemed like he didn’t want to leave for a few minutes, but then he got off the eggs, flew out of the box, and headed to his night perch. Astrid settled onto the eggs. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, May 5^th, 2023

It was chilly last night with temperatures bottoming out in the mid 40s. It was overcast with some light rain in the early morning. Partly cloudy skies prevailed in the afternoon and the temperature reached the mid 50s. Astrid was on the eggs all night. In fact she had been incubating without a break since 1:15 Thursday afternoon – a long sitting for sure. Ares arrived on the State Building at 5:29 AM. We expected Astrid to eagerly call for him to take over but she didn’t. At 5:34 Ares gave a few long calls and then he flew over to the box. At that point they did a quick switch, and Astrid got a chance to stretch her wings. As Ares settled on the eggs Astrid flew around the West face of the State Building checking Ares’ pantry ledges. A couple of minutes later she was perched on a north face ledge. The next changeover took place at 7:19 AM. Ares was out and Astrid was in. At 9:43 Ares was on the hotel and appeared to be in hunting mode. When he flew back to the State Building 10 minutes later Astrid announced it with some sharp calls.

At 12:20 PM Ares was on the steeple. He hadn’t been visible for a couple of hours and we wondered what he had been up to. Moments later he was at the nest box asking for a turn on the eggs. Astrid complied. Once again, Astrid took a perch on a relatively low ledge on the State Building. It was low on that building but roughly even with the 15th floor of the Adirondack Bank which is where the falcon box is. At 12:41 Astrid was on a hotel lodge. She wasn’t hunting though. As it happened she was bathing – or at least acted like she was bathing. However, there was no water on the ledge. Falcons sometimes sunbathe and we’ve seen Astrid and Ares sunbathe on the hotel before but this was a little different. It really looked like she was bathing in water. She flew over to a steeple perch at 12:44. She was back and forth to the steeple a couple of times and we think that she was hunting. At 1:37 she was back on the hotel and mock bathing on the ledge again. Ten minutes later She was back on the steeple. At 4:03 Ares started giving high chirping alarm calls on the nest. This was an indication that a Falcon intruder was in the Canyon. We did not know where Astrid was at that time but we could hear her calling. Ares got off the eggs and vacated the nest. Most likely he was in pursuit of the intruder. In less than a minute Astrid was in the nest and incubating. Ares didn’t return to the fold until 4:58 at which time he took a perch on the State Building. Astrid was on the nest for the night. Ares didn’t return for a late sitting. He did go up on the lookout post for a little while. He left there at 7:35 PM and flew over to the east face of the State Building and to his night perch. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, May 4^th, 2023

It was chilly again overnight with some intermittent rain. The temperature was in the mid 40s. The day was warmer than it had been lately, ultimately breaching 50 degrees. There were breaks of sun and only a few stray showers. Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares showed up on the State Building at 5:33 AM. When he left at 5:53 Astrid called out to him. It seemed like she wanted to be relieved. He finally came to the nest at 6:19, at which point they switched. Astrid flew over to the State Building as Ares climbed onto the eggs. The next changing of the guard occurred at 7:50. We are not sure where Ares went afterwards and we couldn’t locate him with our cameras. At 10:43 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere close. Astrid called back to him. We then noticed he was on the steeple. He came to the box at 11:07. He circumnavigated her in the nest but she was not interested in leaving. After a only a minute he pushed her off the eggs. She flew over to the State Building and he set about incubating. At 11:48 Astrid was on the hotel, but then she darted off at something a minute later.

At 12:17 PM we saw that Astrid had gone to the north face of the State Building. A minute later she came to the crossperch. It was clear that Ares did not want to leave and so she flew over to the steeple. At 1:14 Astrid returned to the nest. The pair beaked as Astrid tried to convince Ares to leave. It soon had the desired results and Astrid was able to take over on the eggs. At 3:46 we again couldn’t find Ares anywhere with our cameras. Five minutes later Astrid was vocalizing and that was an indication that Ares had returned to the fold. Indeed, he was on the State Building. At 4:17 he came to the nest and asked to have a turn on the eggs, but Astrid had no interest in leaving. He soon gave up and flew over to the State Building. At 5:52 Ares had been gone for a little while. Suddenly we heard high pitched alarm chirps from him. It was likely there was a Peregrine intruder in the Canyon. Astrid called back to him but stayed on the eggs. Ares landed on the State Building only moments after the excitement. At that time there was light rain falling in downtown. Ares left the State Building at 6:00 – likely on a hunting foray. He returned 30 minutes later but was soon gone again – probably for the night. By refusing Ares’ offer to take a shift in the early afternoon, Astrid earned herself an especially long turn on the eggs. Obviously, the hatch window is approaching and she loathes to leave the eggs when a hatch is imminent, but we are still days away from that possibility. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, May 3^rd, 2023

It was chilly again overnight with low temperatures in the high 30’s. After daybreak light rain continued. The day’s high temperature was no better than 42 degrees. Astrid sat on the eggs through the night. Ares came to the nest early – at 4:20 AM. He didn’t come into the box but made his request to take over the eggs from the crossperch. She was not ready to leave so he flew back out instead. At 5:34 Ares was back at the nest. This time Astrid was more than ready to leave. She gave loud donkey calls as she got off the eggs and made for the exit. She flew to the State Building as he got settled on the eggs. At 6:36 Astrid was on the hotel, but she wasn’t there long. Ten minutes later she was back on the State Building. At 8:07 the pair switched again – that time Astrid came back onto the clutch. At 9:40 Ares screeched to the nestbox with a small prey item. Astrid came off the eggs, accepted the food on the crossperch and flew off with it. We couldn’t find where she went, but suspected she may have taken it to a window ledge on the east face of the bank building. Apparently, she had been seen feeding on Pigeon there the day before. Ten minutes after getting her gift she was and flew up to a perch on the north face of the State Building. Ares called out when he saw her fly through and land. At 10:08 AM Astrid came to the nest and requested a turn. When he looked like he wasn’t yielding, she became assertive and pushed him out. Five minutes later he was on the State Building. Ares was out of view for a while after that. At noon we spotted him on the corner of the upper ledge on the hotel. He was probably hunting. A Turkey Vulture floating through the canyon in the rain provoked no response from the falcons.

At 12:10 PM he was at the nest asking for a turn. He immediately walked behind Astrid and she got up and left. She flew over to a perch on the State Building. At 1:56 they did another changeover. That time Astrid took over on the eggs while Ares sailed over to the State Building. At 4:46 Ares came into the nest and almost immediately walked behind Astrid to shift her off the eggs. It worked although she wasn’t too pleased about it. She flew back over to the State Building. At 6:18 Astrid checked in at the box. It was obvious that Ares didn’t want to go, so she sailed right out again. She came back for the final changeover of the day at 7:51 PM. Ares left the nest and Astrid settled onto the clutch. Goodnight falcons.