It was another cold cold night in the canyon. Astrid was tight on the chicks through the night and early morning. There were no overnight visits by Ares and no early morning feedings. After 5 AM we noticed that Astrid was watching and waiting for Ares to show up. She called out a few times. At 5:43 he arrived on the State Building. He gave some screech calls and she called back excitedly. He finally flew over to the box and relieved her. She blasted off the nest like she was late for an important appointment. She flew around the State Building checking Ares’ pantry ledges for stored meals. At 5:52 she returned to the nest with a chunk of meat. Ares didn’t want to leave and had to be nudged off the chicks before the feeding could begin. At 7:42 we noticed that the nestlings were alone in the box. We looked around with the PTZ cam but couldn’t locate either parent. Were they dealing with an intruder? No alarm calls had been heard. At 7:58 Astrid returned and went back to brooding. The chicks called the entire time they were uncovered, which was at least 20 minutes.
At 9:22 we located Ares on the hotel. He had prey. At 9:36 he brought it to the nestbox. Astrid took it and started feeding the chicks. At 10:45 Astrid was calling as if she saw Ares somewhere in the canyon. He had been seen on the State Building about a half hour earlier, but not since. He returned to a high perch on the north face at 10:53. At 11:15 he was giving chirping-type alarm calls and he darted off towards the northwest. Most probably he was chasing off a falcon intruder. He returned to the State Building at noon and then he and his mate called to each other back and forth across the canyon. She called to him again when he flew at 12:26. At 1:18 she gave a major cackle alarm call from the box. There must have been a raptor or vulture flying close to the nest, but we didn’t see it. A minute later Ares was at the nest asking to take a turn brooding the chicks. She squealed at him as he got behind her and tried to nudge her off the clutch. Finally, she got up and flew and he had his chance to brood. She barged back into the nest with food at 1:33. She ousted Ares and started feeding the chicks. At 2:16 PM Ares was giving chirping alarm calls again. He was dealing with another falcon intruder. He returned to the State Building at 2:46.
At 3:15 Astrid became very upset and gave cackle alarm calls at the nest. She flew out briefly and then returned. She was looking towards the roof of the bank building. Was there someone or some bird up there? At 3:56 Ares was on the hotel plucking a Pigeon. Ares doesn’t catch Pigeons very often (that’s Astrid’s specialty). He proceeded to eat a large portion of it. At 4:19 he was up. At that point Astrid had a long-distance conversation with him, but we weren’t sure where he was calling from. He brought his Pigeon to the east veranda and Astrid scrambled over to get it from him. She took it to the hotel to eat. Ares jumped into the box to babysit the nestlings. They squealed in his face until Astrid returned with their dinner a few minutes later. We noted how relatively well-behaved the two chicks are when feeding and how they both seem to take turns while being served. The larger chick doesn’t always dominate. At 7:30 PM we noticed that Ares was sitting with the nestlings. We weren’t sure when Astrid had left, but it was probably only minutes earlier. She returned with food five minutes later and gave the chicks their last meal of the day. Ares remained visible on the State Building until at least 11 PM. As for Astrid, she was in the box all night. Goodnight falcons.
