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Update for Monday, April 22, 2024

Today was intruder day in the canyon. Ares was brought off the eggs twice today by them. Both times the eggs didn’t suffer since Astrid quickly came in to resume incubating. Ares gave his chirping type alarm calls before leaving the nest, which is always indicative of a Peregrine intruder. Most probably the intruder(s) were males since Ares handled the situations on his own without bringing in Astrid for support. We never saw the intruder(s), but at one point in the afternoon, we saw Ares flying with the wind at what seemed to be at least 100 miles an hour. He was heading to the north. We don’t know if he was going for prey or for an intruder. My guess is the former.

Update for Sunday, April 21, 2024

The Utica falcons’ hatch window is set to commence on Friday, April 26th, marking 28 days of continuous incubation. However, it’s unlikely that the first hatch will occur on the 26th. Typically, the first hatch(es) won’t happen before a full 33 days of incubation, which would bring us to May 1st. Stay tuned for updates!

Update for Saturday, April 20, 2024

Since Astrid and Ares spent the day sharing incubation duties without much else to report, we figured it’s a fitting time to address a perennial question about our Utica pair: How can we distinguish Astrid from Ares based on their plumage?

Astrid sports a broader malar or mustache mark compared to Ares. Her blue-gray malar blends softly into her white cheek patch, creating a somewhat blurred transition. In contrast, Ares’ malar is notably thinner than Astrid’s (and thinner than most Peregrine Falcons), with a sharper boundary between the malar mark and his white cheek patch.

While Astrid has vertical dash-like streaking on her breast (light but noticeable), Ares’ breast appears predominantly whiter, adorned with fewer and less distinct chest streaks. On Ares’ belly, the dark spots are small and round, resembling dots made with a fine-tipped marker, while Astrid’s belly spots are larger and resemble chevrons drawn by someone using a broader-tipped marker with a shaky hand.

Finally, Ares shows some faint light areas in the plumage atop his head, whereas Astrid’s head plumage is uniformly blue-gray.

Update for Friday, April 19, 2024

Ares was anxious to get on the eggs this morning. He came to the box at 5:20 AM and tried to convince Astrid to leave but he was not successful. Usually, she is anxious to leave in the morning, having spent the entire night incubating. When it is close to hatching time, she usually doesn’t want to leave the eggs, but we are a full 10 days out from the hatch window – so it can’t be that. Another possibility is that Astrid wanted Ares to bring her something. If that was the case, he didn’t comply, or if he did, he left it on a ledge and did not bring it to the box. He finally came back to relieve her at 8:17 AM, and she still didn’t want to go. This time, however, he didn’t take no for an answer and pried her off the nest. When Astrid returned to the crossperch at 10:51, she had a large crop. Evidently, she had acquired a meal somewhere.

Update for Thursday, April 18, 2024

The Falcons conducted a total of six switches during the day today which was typical for them. On three occasions, the one asked to leave did not want to go. Sometimes that results in the intransigent falcon being bulldozed off nest and forced to leave. That didn’t happen today. Although Ares did get rather pushy at one point in the late morning and went as far attempting to step on Astrid a couple times. However, she beaked with him and they had a conversation. Following that, he threw up his metaphorical hands and left. In midafternoon he came in and once again asked to take over. He did a complete circle around her and tried to shift her but she wouldn’t budge and he soon gave up. In the early evening when Ares was on duty, Astrid came to the nest to take over for the last time before nightfall. Ares clearly did not want to go, and she graciously allowed him an extra hour on the eggs.