The Overnight period was wet and cool – a nice early May kind-of day. Oh, that’s right, it’s early June! Astrid was in the nest vicinity for part of the night. Ares came to the box with prey at 2:18 AM but Astrid did not come to meet him. He thought about doing the feeding but then one of the big chicks swiped the food from him and took it to the back of the box. The era of food swiping has begun. At 5:12 Astrid came to the east veranda. Astrid then came to the crossperch at 5:33. She seemed to know there was uneaten food inside the box but every time she went inside to get it one of the chicks would chase her out. She made about fur failed attempts. Finally, she came in and got it and began trying to serve it out. While Astrid fed one of the chicks, the biggest chick was biting at her tail and grabbing it with her big foot. She was grabbing at the food as well, but each time Astrid would pull it back and feed her a piece. At 6:05 the second biggest nestling gave an extend cackle call. It was surprisingly long. Astrid had been on the steeple but took flight possibly in reaction to the nestling’s calls. At 6:21 both adults were on pillar perches to the west of the nest. At 6:47 Astrid came to the box for a chick-check. She was trying to come inside, but once again the babies kept chasing her out. She then began dancing back and forth between the crossperch and the two verandas. We think she may have been showing the nestlings that the veranda platforms are something they need to be using. Seems too early on for that kind of thing, Astrid. At 6:56 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox.
At 9:37 AM Astrid was feeding out something that Ares had brought – possibly a goldfinch. At 10:58 Ares brought more food – probably a cuckoo that time. Astrid took it and served it to the nestlings. At one point the oldest chick stole the food, but Astrid took it back and resumed the feeding session. At 11:30, Astrid was back to the box roof and Ares was on his east pillar perch. At 12:13 PM Astrid flew over Deb’s head in the parking lot. Was she hunting Pigeons or giving Deb a warning not to go into her office? Ares did some flying around the canyon; he sailed by the hotel and then towards the State Building. At 12:38 Astrid was on her steeple perch. Ares was on the State Building but then went on a hunting trip shortly afterwards. At 1:00 Ares brought a swallow to the box. As Astrid tried to serve it out one of the chicks made off with a hunk. She continued to give out what was left. Ares brought more prey at 1:41. Astrid attempted to feed the chicks only to lose the whole thing to one of them. That chick took it to the corner. Astrid tried to recover it but the nestling held it fast with her talons. Astrid ultimately gave up and left. The nestling then jumped around with her prize, footing it and biting it, but not really eating it. At this point the winds were stronger in the canyon and they were occasionally making feathers swirl around in the box. The nesting watched the feathers fly around their heads. At 2:16 there was a food transfer outside of the box somewhere. Astrid had the prey and fed it out to the chicks who were relatively well behaved. Astrid did chick-checks at 3:45 and 4:00. At 5:44 she came into the box with a large prey item. It looked to be a Pigeon. She was able to feed the nestlings for a while but then the last third of the meal was absconded with by a chick. Ares brought food at 6:39. Astrid did the feeding and the nestlings were again fairly well behaved – at least by recent standards. For some reason, more than halfway through the feeding, two of the chicks gave cackle-type calls. Astrid kept feeding them right through. Astrid called it a night at 8:45 and came to her guard position on the long perch. Goodnight all
Serena and Venus for the two female chicks.