Astrid spent a very cold evening on the nest last night. The day began especially early for the Utica Peregrines on Wednesday. Ares brought food to the box at 1:36 AM. Astrid grabbed the food and handled the feeding. The same thing happened at 2:26 and then again at 4:04. Ares brought prey to the box at 8:44 and, as expected, Astrid snatched the food and fed the nestlings. We were beginning to wonder if Ares was ever going to get a chance to feed the chicks this season. He went to the east veranda after the food drop and from there flew to the State Building. The day was warming up quickly.
At 10:15 something got Astrid upset and she gave a cackle-type alarm call from the box. Perhaps there was a person too close to a window near the nest box. She always gets touchy about people in close proximity to the nest – particularly when she has vulnerable nestlings. The next prey delivery happened at 10:11. Predictably, Ares arrived at the box and Astrid immediately relieved him of his gift. She flew out of the box with it but then boomeranged right back and began a new feeding session with the nestlings. At around 1 PM Astrid was out of the box. She took a high perch on the State building. The chicks were alone in the box until Ares arrived five minutes later. He stood alongside them and waited for them to settle before attempting brooding. Astrid returned at 1:10 and took over on the nestlings. Poor Ares had just got them to calm down! It’s interesting to see the different styles the parents use when approaching the chicks. Astrid never waits for them to calm down, instead she drives into them like a bulldozer and makes them settle.
Ares made a food drop at the nest at 1:46. Astrid handled the feeding. Before she was done doling out the meal, Ares was back with more food. Astrid lunged over to him, grabbed the new prey and began feeding the chicks another course. She left the box at 2:46 and Ares came in two minutes later. She was back to take over at 2:52. They switched places twice at around 3:30. Ares brought prey to the nest at 3:40. Astrid did the feeding. She left the box at 3:56 and joined Ares on the State Building. The Chicks were alone in the box until Ares arrived at 4:07. It was finally warm enough to leave them by themselves for a while. Ares was there to babysit, but he wasn’t brooding them. For the most part, he perched on the lip of the nestbox, looking out. At 5:28 Astrid came back to the nest. Ares brought food five minutes later and Astrid conducted the feeding. At 5:43 Steve was on the bank roof to assess the condition of our nonfunctional PTZ camera. Astrid was not happy about that and gave some cackle alarm calls. She also did some diving runs. Mostly she perched on the State Building and monitored the activity on the roof and in the office adjacent to the nestbox. At 6:40 Ares took some stored prey from the west face of the State Building and brought it to the hotel. He brought that prey or something else to the nest at 6:43. Astrid grabbed the food and fed it to the nestlings. The chicks’ crops were noticeably full after the feeding. Following the meal, Astrid spent another ten minutes being outraged by work taking place in the adjacent office. She traveled back and forth between the verandas and the box giving the windows her evil eye. By 7 PM she had settled down in the nest again and resumed brooding. She left the box at 7:30 and Ares came in to take over. At 8:20, she came back with the final meal of the day. Goodnight falcons and all.
