The overnight period was cool and wet. Intermittent rain continued for the first half of the morning. The sun was out by midday and temps breeched the 60’s for the first time in a while. Astrid was at or near the box for much of the night. There were not any overnight or early morning feedings. Of course, hunting is difficult in this kind of weather. Astrid was at the box until about 5:20 AM and then she moved to the State Building. After that she was seen lunging after something from the steeple. She came to the long perch at 5:41 but without any food. The nestlings were screeching and flapping their wings. At 5:44 Ares came to the nest with prey. Astrid quickly grabbed it and started a feeding. The eldest chick began a tug-o-war with her mother – employing her big foot as well as her bill. Astrid managed to pull it away and then fed one of the less rambunctious nestlings on the other side of the box. The feeding went until about 5:55. At 6:14 Ares landed on the crossperch with more prey. This time Astrid was nowhere to be seen. Ares hopped into the box and started to feed one of the chicks. It was chick number 2. It was working but it seemed to us like Ares was a little on the paranoid side – like he was expecting Astrid to burst in at any second and grab away the food and food and do the feeding. At one point Ares stopped the feedings and went out onto the crossperch with the food. That lasted only a couple of minutes. He hopped right back in and finished feeding out the meal. Through part of the meal. he gave light sharp calls in order to compel the youngsters to feed, not that they need all that much coaxing. When he came back in he was mostly feeding chick number 3. At the time we still didn’t know where Astrid was. At 7:30 we located her on the hotel ledge taking in some sun. Twenty minutes later she was done with the spa and went to the steeple.
At 9:35 Astrid did a chick-check at the box. She was back at 10:02 and that time she had most of a Pigeon in her talons. She proceeded to feed the chicks until about 10:27 and then she was out of the box. At 11:22 she joined Ares over at the hotel ledge. She preened and let the sun warm her feathers. At one point Ares took a true sun bath – laying flat on the ledge and spreading out his wings. At 11:52 Astrid returned to the steeple. At one point she made a foray out after prey. She was still in hunting mode even after so recently feeding the chicks. At 12:28 Astrid landed on the roof of the nestbox. She hadn’t d been thinking about monkeys in offices much on this day, but now she was checking out their lair. Fifteen minutes later she was on the State Building with Ares. At 2:02 Ares brought food to the nest. Astrid did the feeding. At 3:55 Ares flew up the crossperch with a meal. He waited a minute for Astrid to show up. When she didn’t he hopped into the box and started a feeding. He pretty much fed them one by one but all three did ultimately partake. All in all, it was a successful feeding. Astrid’s location during Ares’ feeding session was unknown. She came to the nest to do a chick-check at 5:05. She hopped into the box and fed out some floor scraps. She was gone for a while after that. At 6:25 Ares was on the hotel plucking prey. After feeding on it for about six minutes he carried it off into the canyon and ultimately to the nest. Astrid met him there, took the food and did the feeding. After the ten-minute-long meal Astrid flew into the canyon, eventually settling on the steeple. She left for a while only to return to that perch at 7:45. By 9:45 she on the east veranda – probably for the night. Goodnight all.
