Wednesday, May 12, 2021 – Ares Finally Gets More than a Few Moments With the Chicks

The overnight period was cool and rainy again with temperatures in the low forties. By morning the rain had mostly stopped but the sky remained overcast until mid-morning. Temps had risen into the 50’s by noon and into the 60’s by late afternoon. Astrid was on the nest all night as expected. Ares landed on the State Building at about 5:30 AM. Astrid gave an understated donkey call when she saw him land. A couple minutes later we heard Ares screech over to a ledge west of the nest. Astrid called when she saw him. He had a freshly caught grackle which he proceeded to pluck. At 5:43 Astrid went out onto the long perch anticipating his arrival at the box. He landed on the crossperch; she took the food and flew off with it. Ares then came into the nest to brood the chicks. She took the grackle to the hotel to have her share. At 5:52 she flew to the nest and began feeding the three chicks. Once again, the little chick waited until its larger siblings were full before lifting its head and vying. At 6:01 Astrid dove out of the box with the leftovers. Ares came in to tend the chicks while she was out, but that lasted only a minute. She was back and he was out.

At 8:06 AM Ares came to the nest with prey. Astrid grabbed it from him and flew into the canyon with it. She returned immediately and began another feeding. Ten minutes later the meal was finished, and Astrid was brooding again. At 11:53 Ares landed on a steeple perch. She gave quiet donkey calls when she saw him. Three minutes later Astrid was off the nest and flying into the canyon. She came right back with prey she drew from Ares’ pantry. From his perch on the steeple Ares watched her fly back and forth. She was doing his job! Astrid proceeded to feed the nestlings. At 12:50 Ares came to the nest to take over brooding duty. She didn’t go for it and sent him away. He came right back and stood on the long perch for a minute before sailing off into the canyon. At 1:00 PM Ares came to the long perch with prey. Astrid hopped to the crossperch to accept it. For some reason She stayed on the crossperch for a minute or more after she took the food. We thought they dropped the food during the transfer, but they didn’t. She flew off into the canyon with it, returned a minute later, and then conducted a feeding. At 1:04 Ares was heard giving an alarm cackle. We don’t know what he was sounding off about, but Astrid didn’t seem to be upset. At 1:10 Astrid left the nest with the leftovers. Ares came over to fill in at the nest while she was gone. She was back a moment later. She ousted Ares and resumed brooding. At 1:46 Astrid abruptly flew out of the box. Ares came to stand-in for her. She was back in five minutes and he was out.

At 3:08 PM Ares came into the box and requested a turn with the chicks. Astrid consented and flew out. Instead of going directly to the nestlings he watched what she was doing. She returned at 3:11 with a hunk of prey. Ares took a minute to leave while she began a feeding session. The sun was starting to flood into the box by 3:40. Astrid responded by shading the nestlings. She continued shading them for the next ninety minutes. At 5:12 Ares brought food to the nest. She fed the chicks for about ten minutes and then flew away to store the leftovers. Ares came to the nest but was only there for a minute before she was back and brooding. At 6:10 Ares came in to relieve Astrid at the nest. After a few minutes she took him up on the offer and flew off. He ended up standing on the crossperch preening for several minutes while the chicks huddled together around the egg. Astrid was watching over the box from a high perch on the State Building. At 6:20 Ares came over to the chick pile and stood in front of it. It was OK. By this point it was warm enough outside so the nestlings would be fine. As for the egg, it was now well beyond its hatch window and had no need of incubation anymore. Astrid relieved Ares at 7:08 PM. This time he went over to the State Building. He stayed there for a short time and then left for his night perch. Astrid seemed to be in place for the night. Goodnight falcons.