Author: Matt Perry

It was fairly active in the nest box overnight, but fortunately all four of the nestlings remained inside until morning. At 5:00 AM, they began getting more adventurous and started going out on the verandas – all but Spirit, anyhow. Spirit was content to remain inside the nest box for the entire day. Max and Zander were especially busy coming and going from the verandas, while Luna was less intredpid. At 6:10 AM, Ares brought food to the box, Astrid took it and fed Spirit who happened to be the only bird in the box at the time. Soon Max came in and Astrid fed him as well. I think this was the only time that a parent fed nestlings today, all the other times involved food just being dropped off.

Interestingly, After the feeding, Astrid spent the entire balance of the morning perched on a pillar just above the nest box. Ares was on an adjacent pillar for much of the time, but left periodically to chase prey and intimidate passing Turkey Vultures.  Astrid gave alarm calls fairly frequently in the AM and we weren’t always sure why. The nestlings were also giving their renditions of falcon alarm calls. Their versions are generally higher in pitch and to my ear sound a little like Pileated Woodpecker calls. At around 8:00, a male American Kestrel came out of nowhere and assumed a low perch on Grace Church. We thought that maybe he was the cause of some of the alarm calls, but when he flew off, no one seemed to take notice. The nestlings (not including Spirit) got a lot of practice negotiating their way between the nest box and the verandas, but they did only a relatively small amount of wing exercising. When Astrid finally did move off the pillar in the early afternoon, she made an unsuccessful play for a pigeon.

Later on in the early evening, we watched Astrid soar higher and higher until she disappeared in the east. Ares had been MIA for at least a few hours at that point. We assumed he was on an extended hunting trip. About an hour later, Astrid reappeared on the hotel ledge. She had a pigeon and had eated about a third of it. The rest she dropped off of at the nest box for Spirit and Max (who came back from the veranda when he saw the food).  After the food drop, Astrid made many visits to the nest box – just checking on things. Finally, after 8:00PM, Ares finally showed up in the canyon. He didn’t have any prey with him, so he went over to the State Building and landed on a ledge where he had stored a cuckoo. It seemed like he was going to bring the cuckoo over to the chicks, but decided against it. Is he finally getting the hint that no one like to eat cuckoos?

As darkness fell, all of the nestlings returned to the box. A & A took perches on the State Building and the Steeple. It seemed the action was over for the day. Maybe there will be a fledge tomorrow? We shall see. Join us if you can!

The nestlings where lively overnight but they stayed inside the nest box, even though at 3 o’clock AM, Astrid seemed to be coaxing them to come out. Come the morning light, Zander moved onto East veranda, Luna moved onto the west veranda and Max follows a little while later.

Astrid and Ares stayed very close to the nest box throughout the day. Both made brief hunting foreys  – Astrid chased a few pigeons and Ares went after assorted prey. At one point Ares retrieved some stored food from The State building. It was a Black-billed Cuckoo; he brought it to the box and then to  Zander on the East veranda. Astrid intercepted it, but then left it laying at the corner of the veranda for Zander. As usual, Zander wasn’t interested in the cuckoo, so it just sat there.  A little later, Ares came back and left a Great Crested Flycatcher on the same veranda. Now that was a tastier meal and Max even came over to help him polish it off.

Spirit seemed completely content to remain in the nestbox today. This is typical behavior for female Peregine nestlings. Initially, they hang back and let the males do all the exploring. A little later in the morning, Astrid brought something to the box for her. She took it and and ate it all herself.

The first day of our Fledge Watch was not without excitement. Max was the most adventurous of the four chicks – moving all the way out onto the east veranda twice during the course of the day. The last time he even took a nap there. Food was brought to the box today several times and just about every time it was stolen away by one nestling or the other. Interestingly, Ares actually brought two cuckoos to the nest today. Both were stolen away and both were pretty much abandoned in the box and not eaten. At one point Luna seemed to be using one as a pillow!

Astrid did ultimately conduct two proper feedings. The last one happened at around 6:30 PM, when she brought in a pigeon. As we’ve seen in previous seasons when fledging time is upon us, Astrid often brings a meal to the box and then flies away with it. She may do this a few times in a row. This is all done to coax the nestlings to fledge. We should be seeing a lot more of this behavior in coming days. A workman on the roof of the ADK Bank building at around 9:15 AM, got Astrid and Ares very upset. They gave cackle alarm calls and swooped around the building for about 15 minutes. The man went back inside quickly, but the falcons remained on alert.

Right on the heels of that, a flock of Turkey Vultures flying low through the canyon received a not so warm welcome from the falcons. Ares struck one of them at least twice. Later in the afternoon a similar encounter happened, but that time Astrid was the aggressor. The day ended with all the nestlings back in the box and A & A on nearby perches. Fledge Watch will resume on Tuesday morning. We hope to see some of you there!

Overnight was warm and pretty quiet in the canyon. Although, just like their parents, the nestlings don’t sleep straight through the night. They move around in the box, preen, and stretch their wings. There were no overnight feedings – only a couple of early morning chick checks. Ares brought food to the box at 5:40, Astrid took it and just left it in the box without doing a proper feeding. Spirit and Zander picked at it for a while, but no one seemed all that interested in the buffet. The next meal was at 8:10 AM, when Ares brought in some unidentified prey. Astrid followed him in and took it, but then it was immediately stolen by Zander. Astrid tugged at it to get it back, but before she could manage it, Spirit barged in from the other side of the box, grabbed most of it and brought it to the corner. There she fed on it by herself. With the hunk that Astrid managed to hang onto, she began feeding Zander and Max. Through most of the morning, the nestlings were highly active in the box. A great amount of wing flapping and short-sprinting was taking place. Max and Zander continue to be the most interested in what goes on outside the box and in the canyon. Max got up onto the lip of the box numerous times. He even held his wings out. It was very windy downtown, so he got to experience wind hitting his wings for the first time. At 10 o’clock Astrid and Ares we’re doing some swooping around in the canyon. Astrid took a perch on the window sill just east of the east veranda.  This is a place that our adventurous nestlings have traveled to in past years. Ares did some slow passes in front of the nest box. We interpret this as a “come join me” coaxing type flight. We will be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing in the coming days. At one point an object blew in on the wind and zoomed right by the nest box. It elicited some alarm calls from the chicks, but no reaction from the adults. It turned out to be a plastic bag. Shortly after that a Turkey Vulture flew over. It was flying quite high and no one seemed to take notice of it. Looking up at the nest box from street level is interesting. There is an almost constant rain of feathers emanating from it. They are mostly fluffy down feathers that are being shed from the chicks, but there are plenty of prey feathers in the mix too.

The afternoon was very hot and fairly quiet. For the most part, the nestlings were keeping to the few shady corners in the box. By 5:30 PM, they began to get more animated. Luna (the last chick of the four to hatch) got up on the lip of the box and even walked out a few inches onto the perch! That was furthest any of the chicks have ventured yet this season. At 6:20 PM, Astrid flew in with food. She first landed on the east veranda and then on the west veranda. This is what she does when she’s trying to encourage the nestlings to do more exploring. Finally she landed in the box. She had most of a pigeon and she conducted a long feeding. During the feeding, all the nestlings pretty much behaved themselves and all got fed. After their dinner, the youngsters seemed to be more full of beans than ever. Max couldn’t resist but to climb up on the lip of the box again and hold out his wings.

Given all of the activity that took place today, we will be starting our Fledge Watch tomorrow, Monday, June 12^th. It’s still not the official watch until Wednesday, June 14^th, but anyone who wants to stop down would be most welcomed. With four nestlings in the nest box this season, there’s a greater possibility of accidental fledgings, and so we’d like to have people on hand just in case.

The overnight was quiet with no feedings. At 5:42 AM, Astrid made a quick visit to the box to check on the nestlings, but there was no sign of breakfast.  At 7:43, Astrid was seen plucking prey on the hotel ledge. Ten minutes later she was at the box serving up what appeared to be a pigeon. The chicks were relatively raucous, but not too far out of line. Directly following this big meal, Ares came into the box with a hunk of some unrecognizable prey and conducted his own feeding right from the lip of the box. Somehow all of the nestlings managed to pack in even more food. At one point Max tried to steal the food away with a swift talon grab, but Ares tugged it back and continued feeding. Finally the chicks seemed to reach their limit. Ares took the leftovers and stored it in the corner of the box. This morning, both parents spent time on top of the pillars on the bank building’s façade. These are located above and relatively close to the nest box. We believe they were remaining on guard in case one of the young decided to fledge prematurely. Max in particular seems like he’s getting more and more interested in the outside world. Although he was not the first chick to hatch, he was the first male and his molt into juvenile plumage is more advanced than his siblings. He has been doing a considerable amount of wing exercising as well. We’re all keeping our eyes on that one. The parents spent much of the afternoon monitoring the nest from the State Building. A & A did a few nestling checks or “chick checks” in the afternoon. Each time they were greeting with screeching and rushing and general pandemonium. Indeed, the box seems to be getting smaller and smaller these days. At 4:08, Ares brought a small meal to the nest. Astrid came at basically the same time. She grabbed the food from her mate and then Luna snatched it from her and hauled it to a corner of the box , There she ate it all herself. Not bad for the youngest chick! At 6:30 PM, Astrid brought in a pigeon and conducted a long feeding session. Luna was right up front for this one – or she was until she swallowed an entire leg and foot. After that she retired to the corner for about ten minutes. Max and Spirit parked themselves in front of Astrid and took in quite a few servings. After Astrid left, Max and Zander partook of a real flapping fest. At one point, Max had one of his feet up on the lip of the box. That’s usually the first step before venturing out onto the perch and then the verandas. Hopefully, he’ll wait a little while before making those moves. At 7:21, Ares flew in with more prey. Astrid barged in to take it and another feeding ensued. Luna and Spirit were in line to intercept most of the food. It sure seems like Spirit is a bottomless pit! Finally, Max took his place in the lineup and got topped off. Toward the end of the meal, Luna grabbed the remainder and tried to finish it in the corner. After about a minute, Astrid took it back and fed everyone a few more bites. We end the day with Zander and Max gazing out into the canyon. Soon enough they will be out there. I guess we will be out there too when Fledge Watch officially begins this coming week. Hope to see some of you then!