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Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, March 18^th, 2023

It was chilly overnight with the temperature staying close to 32 degrees. The high for the day was around 40 degrees. Some light precipitation fell in the afternoon mainly in the form of snow but there was little or no accumulation. Ares first came to the box at 3:27 AM. He stayed for about 8 minutes. He then returned at 4:05 with a Woodcock. He spent some time on the crossperch plucking it. As expected, Astrid didn’t come over to take it. At 5:12 Astrid and Ares came to the box together and held a ledge display. At 6:52 Astrid was on a window sill on the State Building and Ares was on his lookout post on the roof of the same building. At 6:54 both falcons went after something. We don’t know if it was prey or an intruder. One landed briefly on the long perch at the nest box. It was Astrid, and when she fanned out her tail feathers we noticed that one of her feathers was broken. Fortunately, that shouldn’t hamper her flying at all. She soon floated away on the wind like a kite. Indeed, the wind was getting stronger which comes as good news if you are a Peregrine Falcon. At 7:17 Ares was back to the nestbox with prey. It appeared to be the Woodcock again. Astrid still wasn’t interested. At 7:22 he was on the hotel but without his prey. At 7:43 he returned to the box and, once again, he had the Woodcock in his talons. Astrid was on the State Building, and he called out to her to try and encourage her to come for her gift. She wasn’t budging, but he wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. He made a special delivery right to her ledge. Of course, she still didn’t want it. Ares was back at the box at 8:00 and doing some work on his mega scrape. At 8:53 both falcons were flying. We think they were dealing with an intruder but we could not confirm that. A minute later Ares was back to the nest and Astrid was on Deb’s perch. At 9:11 the falcons were involved in a ledge display the nestbox.

At 11:00 AM Ares brought prey to the nestbox. It appeared to be a Blackbird, but we couldn’t see it well the way Ares was holding it. He called a few times to get Astrid to come over. Surely, she would come over for a Blackbird? He plucked it on the crossperch for about ten minutes. After that he brought it to the east veranda and that’s when Astrid finally flew over to take it. She brought it over to the hotel and made a meal of it. At 1:10 Astrid was on the lower steeple perch. We hadn’t seen her there in a while. By 1:45 both Falcons were up and out of view. We saw a Turkey Vulture flying high over the downtown canyon. At 2:08 the falcons had their third ledge display for the day. At 4:36 both falcons were perched close to each other on the hotel ledge. Astrid was feeding on something large. It was probably a pigeon. Most likely she caught it herself, but we are not sure. We didn’t see Ares try to steal any. But then he was probably already full on Woodcock. At 6:25 the falcons held a fourth dance at the nest box. This time there were mostly displaying/gesturing around the rim of Ares’ super-scrape. After Ares left the box Astrid did some work around the scrape area, mostly digging in the stones. At 6:58 one of the falcons, we think Ares, was back up on the lookout post. He went out after something a few minutes later – we think prey. He came to the nest at 7:13 and then was gone at 7:30 PM, probably for the night. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, March 17^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlqI74IQAGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zllYMHk84J8

The overnight was cool with no precipitation. The temperature was around 35°. In mid-morning we started to get a mixture of light rain and snow. By late morning it became a steady rain and it continued through the afternoon. The high temperature was in the low 40s. Astrid was on the crossperch at 3:00 AM. We weren’t sure when she arrived. At 3:15 she hopped into the box for only a few seconds and then bailed out. Ares was on the west veranda right after that, but then he took off at 3:25. Five minutes later he returned to the box with a freshly caught killdeer, which appeared to be still alive. He soon dispatched it with a bite on the neck. He waited for Astrid to show up, but only a few minutes. He came back about eight minutes later and still had his prey. Once again, he left when Astrid didn’t promptly show up to take it. At 4:05 he came back, this time with a Woodcock, and started plucking it on the long perch. Predictably, she didn’t rush over to take it. He left at 4:14. He probably flew by her in an attempt to entice her to come to the box. He returned to the nest, but she still didn’t follow. He left again and came back at 4:16 – that time, without anything. It is likely that he stored both prey items. He left the box at 4:30 and then returned a minute later with a Woodcock which, oddly enough, didn’t seem to be the same bird. He couldn’t possibly have had enough time to get another one – could he have? He flew off two minutes later, only to boomerang right back – this time with empty talons. Astrid showed up on a west ledge at 6:54. It’s possible she was there earlier but we just didn’t notice her there. At 7:09 the pair mated on the east veranda. At 8:09 we think there was an aborted mating attempt on the steeple. Ten minutes later we heard chirping-type calls which sounded like the standard alert for a falcon intruder. In a flash Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Both Falcons came to the box at 8:25. Ares went inside to work on his scrape. Meanwhile Astrid was on the edge of the east veranda and asking to mate. They mated at 8:33. At 8:51 Ares came to the box with a chunk of a Woodcock. No surprise, Astrid was not interested in taking it. He took it away and probably put it back ionto one of his pantry ledges on the State Building. At 9:09 Astrid was asking to mate again. And the pair did just that at 9:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSxpa8Qkzo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPE4ZDWdIt8

At 10:00 AM Astrid was still on the corner of the east veranda and Ares was back inside the box. She wanted to mate and he wanted to dance. By then it had started to rain. The pair shared a ledge display at 10:44. There wasn’t much footwork during the dance and Astrid took a break at one point to pick up some stones and maybe eat a few. After Ares left the box, Astrid did some housework around his mega scrape. While she was busy with that, Ares went up to his favorite pillar perch. at 12:16 PM the pair mated on the east veranda. Despite the rain, at 1:45 Astrid was asking to mate again. They mated one minute later and afterwards Ares returned to his pillar perch. At 2:12 Ares brought food to the nest. Astrid took it and started eating it on the east veranda which was unusual. A few minutes later she was up. She reappeared on the steeple at 2:41. They both stayed in place for a few hours – him inside the nest box and her on the steeple perch. At 5:15 PM Ares gave food to Astrid at the box. She took it over to the hotel. It may have been the killdeer that Ares had caught early in the morning. At 5:24 both Falcons were out of view for a while. Ten minutes later Astrid showed up on the west veranda and Ares, at 6:26. At 6:28 both Falcons took off. There was an intruder flying to the east of the State Building. It was too far away for us to identify. It appeared that both Falcons were hazing it as it flew. Given that it was raining again, we thought the falcons would retire for the night – that is, following their return from their hazing mission, but both came back to the nest area at 6:43. He was in the box and she was on the west veranda asking to mate. Both of them were very wet. She finally left for her night perch at around 7:30, and Ares retired a half hour later. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, March 16^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha9AhXHlc6M

It was cold overnight with temperatures down around 26 degrees. The day was mostly overcast with a high temperature of 48 degrees. The sun finally came out only a couple of hours before sunset. Ares arrived at the nest box at 4:43 AM – bright and early, although maybe not so bright. Astrid arrived on the long perch right after Ares but she only stayed for a couple of minutes. We think she was hoping he had a food gift for her. He didn’t. He just wanted to dance. Astrid declined the invitation and flew over to the State Building. At 6 o’clock Ares was back to the box. This time he had a Woodcock dangling from his talons. He waited for a while for Astrid to come over and take it but of course she didn’t. She still doesn’t like Woodcocks. At 6:08 Ares went and stored his catch. After that both Falcons were on the State Building. At 6:55 Ares returned to the box and was wiping his bill on the crossperch. That usually means there was a food exchange, but Astrid was still on the State Building and didn’t appear to have anything, but we couldn’t tell for sure. At 7:09 the falcons mated on an east the ledge. Thirty minutes later Ares was on the east veranda with a fresh caught Starling. When Astrid wouldn’t leave her ledge to come over for it, he hopped over and gave it to her. At 8:07 Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was taking a nap on the crossperch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7oSE-XZG1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOwQlbNgX0

At 10:06 AM the Peregrines performed a ledge display inside the box. Ares left after about ten minutes while Astrid stayed to do some housework. She spent some time standing in Ares’ scrape and then she bit at the lip of the box for a little while. A very important task indeed. At 11:05 the pair performed another ledge display. This one was short, and Astrid bailed right at the beginning. We are not sure if she was spooked by something or what the issue was. At 12:12 PM Ares brought food inside the nest box. Astrid barreled in, grabbed it and headed for the hotel. At 12:28 Ares was back to the nest box and Astrid was on the State Building again. At 2:38 PM she had moved to the west office perch (also known as Deb’s perch) and Ares was inside the nest box. At 4:55 Ares gave Astrid more food at the nest box. He was in super provider mode today. Once again she took her gift over to the hotel. At 5:27 Ares was back in the box and Astrid was on the steeple. At 6:14 the falcons performed their third ledge display at the box. Ares was out after four minutes and went to the steeple. Inside the box Astrid made a scrape on top of Ares’ super scrape and did some more housework. Astrid then sat still in the nest for more than an hour while Ares remained on watch on the steeple. When Astrid begins doing long-ish sittings in the nest we know that egg laying isn’t all that far off. Perhaps it’s only ten days away or maybe less. One thing was for sure, it wouldn’t be tonight. They both left for their night perches at around 7:40 PM. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, March 15^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MunwLDwS9lw

Overnight was cold with temperatures in the mid 20s. It was sunny during the day and the temperature peaked at 34 degrees in midafternoon. However, it was windy and that made it seem colder. Ares arrived at the nest box at 5:30 AM. At 6:23 he started squeaking inside the box – and that was our notification that Astrid had arrived on the State Building. At 6:59 Ares was up on his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. At 8:07 Astrid came to the box. Ares landed on the east veranda with a food gift. He then hopped into the box to give it to her. She flew out but we are not sure where she took it. Both falcons were on the State Building at 8:30. At 10:41 the pair came to the nest box and performed a ledge display. It was a lively one. Ten minutes later they were both out. At 11:05 it is possible that Ares brought food to Astrid’s perch on the State Building.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Z_JLeHP50

At 11:55 AM Ares was in the nest box working on and around his mega scrape. At 3:05 Astrid came over and the pair performed another ledge display. At 4:43 we thought they might dance again – Ares was already in the box, eager and willing, Astrid showed up, hopped inside, but then dove right out again. Ares seemed disappointed that he didn’t get his third dance. We think she left because one of our box cams had been shifted slightly by the wind. She notices everything. At 5:12 PM Ares was in the nest box and vocalizing. Astrid was on the State Building at that time. For the next hour he was in and out fairly frequently. Each time he left he would simply spread his wings and float off on the wind like a gull. At 6:45 Astrid joined him at the nest box and the pair performed another ledge display. It was another lively dance with lots of beaking but Astrid was obviously distracted and she kept looking up at the camera. Once again, she left prematurely. Ares remained in the box for a while after she left, but was gone to his night perch before 7:00 PM. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, March 14^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cJRc5jU79o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eb_R8pMfS4

The snow began falling Monday night and continued through most of today. It was heavy wet snow that really piled up. We had close to a foot in the hills to the south of the city. The temperature stayed around the freezing point all day. Our PTZ cameras were partially obscured by snow and ice; that meant we often couldn’t see what the falcons were up to, not that they were up much. Ares arrived at the nest box at 5:29 AM. He stayed there for two hours. At 7:33 he was back to the box with prey. Leave it to Ares to successfully hunt during snowstorm! Astrid did not come over to take it and so he flew off. He probably buzzed by her to show her what he had. He came back to the box a minute later and this time she followed him over and took the meal. We are not sure where they went after that. At 8:50 they were suddenly both in the box partaking of a ledge display. There was lots of beaking involved in that dance. Ares left after about 5 minutes. Astrid remained in the box until 11:15. We didn’t see a Falcon again until Ares returned to the box at 12:46 PM. He was in and out a few times in the next hour. Astrid arrived on the cross perch just before 2:00 o’clock. The pair then performed another dance albeit a short one this time. Ares was out after only a minute. Once again Astrid remained in the box for a while. At 4:10 she was gone. Ares was back to the box at 4:43. Just as before, he was in and out a few times for the next couple of hours. Both converged at the box at 6:15 for their third dance of the day. They both left within a minute of each other at 6 17 PM. After that, one of the Falcons, we suspect Ares, was on the north face of the State Building – no doubt keeping an eye on the nestbox. He was gone at 7:25 PM. Goodnight falcons.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR1O_iAzlsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMA-2jZo9LY