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Astrid wasn’t “fooling” around when she arrived at the box this evening. She came back to the box just after 6pm and by 6:50 had laid the first egg of the 2017 nesting season. What an active day! (see earlier post). She is now enjoying some much deserved rest!

Astrid spent the entire night in the box, but again neglected to produce an egg. The pair were together at the box a few times in the predawn hours and even mated on the nest box perch in the darkness and fog. At dawn it was Ares turn to spend some time minding the homestead. Persistent snow and then rain through mid-morning kept pair’s activities levels low. Both loafed on State building for a while. As the precipitation slowed, Ares got peppier and the pair mated on the State Building at 9:20. He then retrieved most of a Woodcock from a ledge on the State Building and tried to give it to Astrid. She declined the gift and so, waste-not want-not, he partook of some himself. At 10:00, the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project held its first public walk of the season around the falcon’s canyon and the birds didn’t disappoint. Both flew around the Downtown area and, especially Ares, put on a really great show. The pair mated at the box and on the steeple. To the delight of all, they met at the box several times and performed a couple of ledge displays. Toward the end of our walk, an immature male Peregrine followed Ares as he flew in to join Astrid at the box! That was a surprise. The stranger was escorted out quickly and the resident pair reunited at the box and then on the church steeple. Through the afternoon we weren’t able to keep very close tabs on the falcons, but as far as we know, they didn’t seem very active. Ares made a few visits to the nest box and Astrid was occasionally seen perching on the State Building and the steeple. By evening, Astrid was back in the box and she remains there now at 6:50 PM as I write this update. Will she spend the night in the box again? Will anything else happen? I’ll say “maybe”.

Astrid came to the nest box at 4 AM on Friday. She didn’t seem like she was ready to lay an egg, so we had no expectations. She stayed at the box until Ares came in and relieved her. She was back by 7 o’clock, and at that point Ares tried to interest her in a Woodcock breakfast, but she wouldn’t take it. He came back a little later with some unrecognizable piece of prey. That she took and presumably ate. For the balance of the morning, Ares was popping in and out of the box with great frequency. Rain was coming down steadily and it didn’t seem to bother him. On the other hand, Astrid is no fan of the rain and she mostly kept tight to a ledge on the west face of the State Building. Ares desperately tried coaxing her back to the box, but she wouldn’t budge. That is until noon, when she made two rapid fire visits. Each time Ares hoped she would come in for a ledge display, but he was disappointed. In the early afternoon, he couldn’t get a rise out of Astrid no matter what he did. He tried wailing, bringing food, buzzing by her and more, but there was no response from his mate. Finally at 3:30 PM, the rain slowed down and Astrid participated in a ledge display at the box. They then proceeded to mate five times in the next two hours! At 6 PM, Astrid finally took the Woodcock that Ares first tried to give her in the early morning. The pair ended their day with a quick ledge display at the box. Following the display, Astrid remained at the box and is still there as I’m writing this at 10:20 PM. Will she lay her first egg of the season tonight? We shall know tomorrow.

Astrid came to the nest box on Wednesday evening and appeared ready to lay her first egg for the 2017 season. However, looks can be deceiving and she left the box around 1:00 AM with no egg on the scrape. Ares came to the box before dawn with a Woodcock and tried to interest Astrid in coming over and taking it, but she declined the invitation. He tried to tempt her to the box again a little later – that time with some unrecognizable hunk of prey. Evidently, she liked the look of it (Apparently she wants her meat to be processed first) and took it over to the Hotel ledge to devour. In the late morning Astrid (sporting a very full crop) spent a lot of time at the nest box. She and Ares performed four ledge displays in the course of 90 minutes, which might be a new record. Even though Astrid was obviously full, Ares tried to stuff more food into her. He brought over a bat and when she wouldn’t take it, he stood in the box next to her and tried to feed it to her a little piece at a time. That was different! By early afternoon Astrid was out of view of our cameras. We figured that she was still in the canyon due to her mate’s behavior. He kept trying to get her back to the box all afternoon – sometimes with food and sometimes with only his shrill pleading screeches. At 4:40 PM, Astrid finally came back into view on the State Building. At 5:30 they mated at the nest box and a half hour late, mated again on the County Building. Perhaps this is the night that Astrid will lay her first egg of the season. I don’t blame anyone if they refuse to put money on it.

Astrid spent most of last night in the nest box, but again she didn’t lay an egg. The morning was extremely exciting in the canyon. First a Turkey Vulture flew low through the canyon and elicited a warning call from Astrid. After that a male American Kestrel came through, landed on the State Building and then flew right by the pair as they perched on the same building. Shortly after that a first-year Peregrine Falcon came onto the scene with prey in its talons. The intruder landed on the east face of the State Building and brazenly began plucking and eating its meal on a window ledge. Both Astrid and Ares went into full hazing mode. They repeatedly dove at the young bird for the better part of an hour and a half. All the while the un-banded stranger remained out of reach and tucked into a deep window ledge. Astrid and Ares took a few breaks from their hazing efforts to come to the nest box and perform two ledge displays and also two matings. Finally, following another ten minutes of hazing, the intruder flew out of its safe place and started to fly southeast. Our resident falcons went after it and were seen sparring with it until all three disappeared from view. Astrid and Ares came back about a half hour later. And still the excitement was not over: In the afternoon, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks flew low over the canyon and were escorted to the clouds by Ares. The kestrel was also seen zipping through a few more times. As far as we know there was a total of five or six matings today, one or two food exchanges and at least five ledge displays. Astrid was very low profile in the late afternoon. She had expended a lot of energy during the morning and took advantage of the relative quiet period to get some rest. Ares tried hard to entice her back to the box in the afternoon and through early evening, but she wouldn’t come. Thanks to all the watchers that contributed details on what turned out to be a very active day in the canyon