The overnight was cool and rainy and that rain continued through the morning. The temperature managed to get into the low 60’s by noon. Rain was intermittent in the afternoon and finally stopped by 4:00 PM. The wind remained brisk, and the temperature barely moved all day. Astrid spent most (if not all) of the night in the vicinity of the box. Before 5:00 AM both parents were in guard positions on either veranda – Astrid on the east veranda and Ares on the west. Percy and Kara started waking up and getting active at 5:20. Soon Percy started doing some serious wing flapping. He got up on the lip of the nestbox and did some more flapping there. At 5:49 Ares came to the nest with prey. Astrid took it and brought it into the box. Percy hopped back inside. Kara was first in line to be fed. Percy got served a few minutes in. By 6:01 Percy decided that he had enough food and returned to perching on the lip of the nestbox. Kara continued to be served by Astrid. By 6:11 Percy and Kara were sticking their heads way out of the box. At one point Kara grabbed her brother with an oversized foot. She also forced him to do some beaking. At 6:20 Percy was balancing on the box lip. He had his wings out. He also did some head nodding which made us nervous since that’s what falcons often do right before they fly. By 6:48 Astrid was on the west veranda and Ares was on his favorite pillar. The nestlings had calmed down by that point. By 7:45 Percy had hopped up onto the box lip once more. At 8:08 Astrid stopped at the nest for a chick check. Ares did another one at 8:13. At 9:19 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox obsessing about what was happening inside the office. She was on the steeple at 10:16 and giving cackle-type alarm calls. We didn’t know what was upsetting her. At 10:26 Ares was on the hotel plucking prey. At 10:40 he brought it to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away with it, came back to the nest, and lost it to Kara. Kara took the meal into the corner of the box and started feeding on it. Astrid thought about recovering it but ultimately decided not to intervene. She went to the box roof instead. Meanwhile, in the nest Percy was trying to get some bites of the meal his sister had stolen. He eventually did, once Kara had her fill. This was really the first time they seemed competent at self-feeding. By 11:38 both nestlings were settled and were preening their feathers.
At 11:47 AM Percy was back to his box lip perch. At 12:12 PM we heard double cackle calls from the parents. There were people on the roof of the Adirondack Bank building and Astrid and Ares were swooping, doing hazing runs, and she was cackling almost non-stop. The stiff wind was making the falcon’s hazing flights even more dramatic. Astrid was flying at tremendous speeds, turning sideways, banking, diving, climbing, all without barely a flap of her wings. At 12:33 Ares was perched on the State Building but Astrid was still upset and doing hazing runs. Percy moved to the lip of the box and did some calling of his own. Of course, the main reason for Astrid’s over-the-top response to people on the roof is associated with the stage of development her nestlings are at. Astrid’s defensiveness is commensurate with the age and stage of development of the nestlings. The more of an investment they represent the greater her urge to defend them. Percy did some more flapping while on the box lip. At one point he was perched with tail out and he did a minor jump/hop flight from the nestbox – flapping the whole time. By 12:55 Astrid had calmed down and was over on the State Building with Ares. Easy come, Easy go; and then at 1:10 Astrid was upset again. Men were back up on her roof. Percy moved to the lip of the box and watched his mother zipping around the canyon. It appeared to be high class entertainment for him. At 1:21 Percy moved out onto the crossperch. This was unexpected and something that concerned us. The wind was strong, and it was putting him off balance. The possibility of an accidental fledge was there. After ten minutes he managed to go back into the box and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
At 1:41 PM we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere. Fifteen minutes later he was on the steeple and Astrid was upset again. She was on the State Building cackling about something. At 1:56 Percy was feeding on scraps in the box. At 2:15 Kara was half on the lip of the box flapping her wings. Astrid came to check on the nestlings five minutes later. Percy soon joined her. At 3:15 Ares brought prey into the box. He started tearing off tiny pieces and feeding them to Percy. Astrid stopped at the crossperch – surveyed the scene and decided not to intervene. Kara joined in at one point and Ares fed both of them. Astrid checked in on the session again but left after only a few seconds. And then, inexplicably, about six minutes into the meal, Ares took the leftovers and flew out of the box. At 3:34 Percy was up on the box lip again. Kara did the same thing a few minutes later. Both were up and down from the lip several times. When Astrid came to check on them at 3:55 one of the nestlings chased her right out again. Astrid was heard cackling after that. Was she mad at the nestlings? A few minutes later she came to the nest with food. Percy sat on the box lip while Astrid fed his sister. A minutes later he got in line, but soon gave up and went back to his box lip perch. At 6:15 Astrid was doing some kiting in front of the box. The wind was still strong and flying for the adults seemed effortless. The nestlings watched her as she kited, hovered, hovered, and darted between the box and the State Building several times. A Turkey Vulture flying over the canyon at 6:20 caused one of the nestlings to give a cackle alarm call. That brought Astrid right over to the box. Three more Turkey Vultures flew through which made one of the chicks cackle again. At 7:13 PM Ares reappeared after a somewhat lengthy absence. He was plucking prey on the hotel. Five minutes later he brought it to the east veranda. Astrid flew over to take it. She then flew around the bank before coming into the nest. She immediately lost the food to Kara who grabbed it and took it into the corner. Astrid tried to recover it a couple of times before giving up. She flew around the canyon before settling on the State Building on a ledge adjacent to the one where Ares was perched. Meanwhile, in the nest, Percy put his food on the food and managed to steal a few bites. At 8:21 PM Astrid brought food to the box. This time it was a classic style feeding – with her serving it to both chicks. She fed both until they were full and started doing other things in the box. Astrid stayed and continued to feed herself. When she was done, she moved over to the east veranda. Most likely the falcons were settled for the night. Goodnight all.
Little Falls Falcon Update:
One of the two Little Falls falcon nestlings became a fledgling this afternoon. At 1:19 PM he left the nest ledge, flew out of view, and then returned to land on the roof of the host building. It appeared to be a good solid first flight. While on the roof he was seen taking a bath in a puddle.