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Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, March 29^th, 2023

The weather was all over the place today. The overnight was cold with temperatures in the mid 20s. By afternoon it had warmed up to 50 degrees and the sky was partly sunny. Wind increased in the afternoon making life more difficult for people, if easier for falcons. Rain turned to snow in the evening and temperatures dropped into the 30s. Astrid spent most of the night in the nestbox. She left at 2:54 AM but then returned to the crossperch only ten minutes later. At 5:09 Ares arrived at the nestbox and Astrid took it as her cue to leave. Both falcons were on the State Building at 5:50. At 6:00 Ares came to the box with a Woodcock. He spent some time plucking it while he patiently waited for Astrid to come over and take it. To our disbelief, at 6:26 Astrid did come over and take it from her mate. She flew over to the hotel with it and started picking at it. To no one’s surprise she soon gave up and abandoned it on the hotel ledge. She was back on the steeple a few minutes later. The falcons mated there at 6:30 after which Ares returned to the nestbox

At 7:27 AM both falcons were at the nest area. Astrid was on the east veranda perch and Ares was inside the box. She was bowing and asking to mate. There may have been a mating at that point, but if there was, we didn’t see it. At 9:46 the falcons were partaking of a ledge display in the nestbox. Ares was gone 6 minutes later. After he left Astrid worked on her scrape in the middle of the box. At 10:17 both falcons converged at the box again for another ledge display. After 7 minutes Ares was out. Astrid spent some time in the box and we wondered if she was going to lay her first egg but at 11:45 she went to her steeple perch instead. At 2:47 PM Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was in the nest box. At 4:30 the falcons had another ledge display at the box. Ares was out eight minutes later and Astrid remained to do some work around the nest. At 5:10 Astrid was out of the box. At 5:23 Ares came to the nest and was giving chirping calls. We don’t know if that had anything to do with an intruder in the canyon. The falcons mated on the west veranda at 5:30 PM. Ares was on the State Building right after that. At 6:18 Ares came to the nestbox and Astrid left. She flew directly over to the State Building. By 6:45 it had become exceedingly rainy and windy. Ares was on the State Building and remained there until 7:18. At 7:39 Astrid arrived on the crossperch and from there she hopped into the box. It seemed like she was going to do a sitting. Perhaps tonight is the night for the first egg?! By 8:00 it had gotten much windier and rainier. By evening the rain was turning into snow. Our PTZ 2 camera was immediately obscured by ice. Goodnight Falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, March 28^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77SLv0vEbOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYhM-JeBsbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1UNUyDA5N8

It was cold again overnight. The temperature was around 32°. We had partly cloudy skies throughout the day with a persistent wind. The high temperature in the afternoon was in the high 40s. Astrid did not spend the night in the box. She arrived at the nest at 4:14 AM. She sat on the crossperch until Ares came at 5:10. At that point, she flew over to the State Building. At 6:30 we could just make out with the PTZ camera that Ares was on the west face of the State Building. A few minutes later, we saw him dart out after a bird. Sure enough, two minutes later he came to the box with a freshly caught Grackle. He took it to the hotel for processing. At 6:54 when he was done, he took his prey to the box. When Astrid failed to come right over, he flew up to the State Building and to the ledge right next to where Astrid was perched. She came over and took it from him and then flew to the hotel. At 7:44 Astrid was on the Steeple and Ares was on the State Building. They mated at 8:15. At 9:39 the falcons were together in the box partaking of a ledge display. It featured lots of talking and very little beaking. Ares was out after five minutes. Astrid stayed in the nest for a while after the dance. At 9:45 she was making a new scrape in the middle of the floor. Meanwhile, Ares was on the same steeple perch where Astrid had been earlier. At 10:04 Astrid joined him on the adjacent steeple perch. For the next 2 1/2 hours the falcons bounced back and forth between the steeple and the box. At 12:37 PM they conducted another ledge display at the box. Ares was out five minutes later, and Astrid stayed on to do housework. Mostly, she was digging in the corners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-NExPkv3Y4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=875PT95HFLI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJkkXtvmS58

At 2:50 PM Astrid was on the hotel feeding. We think Ares dropped food off to her probably on the State Building or near the box. At 3 o’clock Ares was calling. We weren’t sure if it was related to an intruder in the canyon. At 3:25 I heard the vocalizations of Ring-billed Gulls, flying through the canyon. We don’t think the falcons were bothered by that at all and likely the gulls didn’t get very close to the nest. At 3:34 Ares was vocalizing in the box. We think it had to do with him seeing Astrid fly up to her steeple perch. At 3:44 they mated on the steeple. Both falcons were out of view at 4:10. Ten minutes later Ares returned to the box and Astrid to the State Building. At 5:42 the falcons performed yet another ledge display at the nest. Ares left after about five minutes. They did a practice incubation switch at 6:08 PM. At 6:28 Astrid came to the crossperch. She was asking Ares to mate but he didn’t take her hint fast enough and she left. After that Astrid was on Deb’s Perch for a while and Ares stayed in the box. I looked like he was trying his luck at laying an egg. That trick never works. At 7:34 Astrid was back to the box and Ares took the cue to leave. She stayed out on the crossperch for a while before coming into the box for a sitting. Maybe this will be the night she lays her first egg? We shall see.

Little Falls Falcon update: In Little Falls, Anna and Erie have been busy with the full spectrum of breeding behavior. Anna laid her first egg Monday evening at 8:22. Congratulations to the pair! Once again, they are the early birds.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, March 27^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkYwwvPe89I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RESiDfyl1b8

It was cool overnight with temperatures in the high 20’s. Cloud cover became denser as the day progressed and rain came in the late afternoon. The day’s high temperature was in the mid-forties. Astrid arrived from the east veranda at 12:14 AM. She stayed there until 3:58. Ares showed up on the crossperch less than a minute after she had gone but he did not stay. Astrid flew over to the box right after he left. She left at 4:10 but returned ten minutes later. At 6:00 Ares came to the nest and Astrid left. We saw Ares fly over to the west face of the State Building and land on one of his pantry ledges. A while later he brought food to Astrid on the west veranda. She took it and flew over to the hotel. He sat next to her on the hotel ledge for a little while as she fed. By 7:03 he was back at the nestbox. Fifteen minutes later he was giving chirp-type alarm calls which could mean there was a falcon intruder in the canyon. He took off a minute later. At 7:29 we heard Ares’ mating chatter. They had mated on the steeple. They mated there again at about 7:43.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-TKVJFVIn8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MsbJdroDVo

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

Astrid was at the nest box at 9:10 AM. By 9:48 she had moved out onto the west veranda. Ares brought food to her at 10:10. She took it but she must have stored it because she was on the steeple only a few minutes later and did not have it. At 10:55 Astrid went to the west veranda briefly before returning to the steeple. At 11 55 she was back on the veranda. Both falcons were staying close to the box, but Astrid was not doing a sitting which meant that she was not close to laying an egg. At 2:03 PM Astrid was once again on the steeple and Ares was in the nest box. At 2:45 she had bounced back to the west veranda. She left the veranda and flew over to the box – seemingly to wake Ares up. He had been napping on his scrape. At 2:50 the falcons mated on the west veranda. Ares returned to the box afterwards. At 3:24 there was a ledge display in progress. The dance was mostly a standoff, but it did involve some beaking. At 3:38 Ares was back in the box and seemed to be lobbying for another dance. Astrid was on the crossperch but did not stay and flew over to the State Building. At 3:57 both Falcons were out of view for a while. Ares was back at the box 10 minutes later. We still didn’t see Astrid anywhere but it was highly likely Ares had her in view. Rain was falling by 5:15. Ares brought prey to the east veranda at 5:25. At that time Astrid was on the steeple. Ares buzzed by her once and then swooped up to the nest box. She took it from him at the nest and then flew over to the hotel. At 5:36 Astrid was back on the west veranda. Fifteen minutes later she had moved to Deb’s perch. Ares remained in the box. One would think he was the one that was going to lay the egg. At 7:22 they did a practice changeover – Astrid came in and Ares went out. Astrid stayed in the box until close to 7:50 PM and then she flew off to a night perch. Will Astrid be back tonight? We shall see. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, March 26^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGy1ZkUrvnU

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

The overnight was cool with temperatures in the mid 30’s. The sky cleared during the morning and the high temperature in the afternoon was close to 50 degrees. A persistent wind made it seem colder but also gave falcons a good amount of flying assist. Astrid came to the nestbox at 3:34 AM. Ares showed up a less than a minute later. He hopped into the box with her but stayed for only a moment. At 5:31 he returned, and the pair did what appeared to be a practice incubation switch. He came in and she went out. At 6:20 Ares gave some long calls at the box and then glided off. At 6:40 he was back in the box and Astrid was on the crossperch. Moments later she was up again and then so was he. Both falcons were on the State Building at 7:47. For the next few hours they were up and down from the State Building and Ares was making occasional visits to the box. At 9:51 a ledge display was in progress at the box. He was out after several minutes and she stayed on to do some housework and some digging around Ares’ scrape. 10:23 Astrid was back on the State Building and Ares was in the box. Astrid was spending a lot of time on the State Building and was being fairly sedentary while Ares was going back and forth between the State Building and the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ffRlnqdw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J5MGGuPHQY

At 1:30 PM the pair performed another ledge display at the nestbox. Fifteen minutes later there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. Ares came to the box directly afterward. At 1:55 Astrid was in the box giving alarm calls. They were high pitched clipped notes which meant that there was a falcon intruder in the Canyon (non-falcon intruders typically warrant a cackle type alarm call). She was up after that and both falcons were out of view for at least 20 minutes. We imagined them escorting an interloper well out of their territory. At 2:26 Ares stopped back at the box but did not stay long. Astrid returned to the canyon and to the State Building at 2:39. There she remained for some time. Both falcons were out of view once more at 327. Astrid returned to the State Building ten minutes later and for the next couple of hours Astrid was mostly on the State Building and Ares was in and out of the nest box. There was one mating at 4:52. Likely there were more attempts, but we missed seeing them. Ares was at the box and Astrid was on the State Building until about 7:15. After that we presume they went to their night perches. Will Astrid return to the box tonight and do a sitting? Will she lay her first egg of the season? We shall see. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, March 25^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2jvOygOUe0

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

The overnight was chilly with temperatures just above the freezing point. Conditions didn’t improve much during the day. Overcast skies and intermittent rain showers ruled. Ares came to the nest box at 11:04 PM Friday night. It looked like he had prey in his talons but we couldn’t tell for sure. He only stayed for a couple of minutes. His next appearance at the box was at 5:30 AM. At 6:06 he was calling quite a bit and before abruptly flying out. He came right back and Astrid was with him. It wasn’t much of a ledge display. They both sat on either side of the box. It seemed more like Ares was trying to demonstrate to Astrid how to lay an egg. He left the nest at 6:14. At 6:23 Astrid was out on the crossperch. It seemed like she was waiting for her breakfast to get delivered. At 6:47 Ares arrived on the east veranda with a Robin. He brought it to the crossperch a few minutes later. Astrid was bowing which indicated she was more interested in mating than having breakfast. She did not take it from him and instead flew off. She flew in a circle around the canyon and then returned to an east ledge. Once again she was gesturing that she wanted to mate. Meanwhile Ares had begun plucking his prey in the nest box. This is something that is usually done offsite – at least until there are young in the nest. A few minutes later he stored it on one of his pantry ledges. No doubt, he would be passing it off to Astrid sometime later. There was an aborted mating attempt directly after that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GutHuB943bo

At 7:03 PM the falcons had a successful mating attempt. That was followed by a ledge display 5 minutes later. After Ares left the box Astrid did some housework which include making some scrapes and digging in the corners. The falcons mated again at 7:33. At 8:10 Astrid was back on on an east ledge and Ares was in the box. At 8:23 the falcons had another aborted mating attempt. At 9:11 Ares brought prey to the box and Astrid took it – although not until she was able to tug it away from her mate. We don’t know where she took it. At 9:42 Ares was snoozing while perched on the lip of the box. Astrid moved to the east veranda at 10:00. The falcons came together at the box for another dance at 11:26. Ares did some picking at the stones in the box for a while before he left at 11:39. At 11:47 Astrid was on the crossperch asking to mate. At 12:10 PM it was raining in the canyon. Ares was working in the nest box and Astrid was having a nap on the West veranda. A minute later she was awake and asking to mate. At 11:34 Ares was on his pillar perch. The falcons mated on the east veranda at 2:08 PM. At around 3:50 the falcons were conducting another ledge display at the nest box. By 4:07 Astrid was tucked in on the west veranda and Ares was back on his pillar perch. At 4:44 Ares was on the east veranda and Astrid was on the west veranda. They were in the classic nest guarding pose. She soon moved to an east ledge. At 5:09 Astrid was on the east veranda and Ares was out of view. Fifteen minutes later Ares was calling inside the nest box. The pair mated on the east veranda at 639. At 7:28 Ares had flown but Astrid was still on the veranda. She finally left for her night perch at 7:33 PM. Goodnight falcons.