Author: Matt Perry

Even though at night the weather was fairly mild with only a small amount of rain, there were no overnight feedings. Astrid was on the nest box perch and calling for Ares in the hour of 4 AM, but he was nowhere to be seen. At 5:00, both A & A were on the hotel, but neither had food. It was obviously not a productive night of hunting, nor were there any meals stored in any of the falcons’ “pantries”. In the pre and post dawn hours, both falcons remained in hunting mode – making quick forays out after unseen prey. And then at a couple of minutes before 7 AM, food arrived at the box and Astrid conducted a marathon feeding (about a half-hour long). Apparently she had secured a Pigeon. Often when a meal comes to the box these days, not all of the chicks get in line to be fed, but this time all were giving Astrid and the food their undivided attention. After all, they hadn’t been fed since 4:30 the previous afternoon. More food was brought in by Ares only an hour later. We thought all the chicks would be too stuffed to partake, but the bigger chicks rallied and somehow packed it in. Astrid isn’t usually fond of the first day after a weekend (in this case, after a long weekend) since it means people will be in their offices again and too close to her nestlings. She was upset and did some swooping in front of the offices adjacent to the nest box, but she didn’t do this for very long. It was great that they got a significant feeding in early since steady rainfall would inhibit hunting for most of the rest of morning. At around 10:30, our original nest camera (appropriately dubbed “whitewash cam”) was hit with “whitewash” from one of our marksmen chicks. I suppose we were lucky it lasted this long with four well-fed chicks going off in all directions. With luck, as the chicks get bigger, one of them will make like a squeegee and rub up against the cam’s transparent lens protector and clean it off (don’t laugh, this has happened before!) At noon, Ares brought a whole Starling to the box. Astrid came in, collected it from Ares and then proceeded to pluck it. For some reason she did this while facing out toward the open part of the box. This meant that her tail and wing tips were bouncing up and down in front of the chicks and tantalizing them. A couple of the rambunctious snowmen couldn’t resist having a nip or two. Astrid didn’t seem to mind. As usual the nestlings did a lot of sleeping today, but they also did a considerable amount of exercising. They walked, flapped and interacted more than ever before. Their voices too are becoming ever stronger. Grabbing food away from each other and even from their parents is beginning to become a thing. The next feeding took place at 5:08 PM. It appeared to be a Mourning Dove and it was brought in by Ares. Astrid did the feeding. The two oldest chicks dominated this feeding. One of the two younger nestlings grabbed a small hunk of the meal and dragged it over to the other side of the box and tried picking at it himself. Rain storms threatened in the late afternoon and evening, but none hit the downtown canyon at least as of this writing. I spoke too soon. Now rain is hitting the PTZ camera.

 

 

 

Last night there were only two early morning feedings. Both took place prior to the start of the steady rain. The first meal came in at 12:39 AM. It was a small prey item brought by Ares. The second was larger and was brought in by Astrid at close to 3:00. Following that meal the rain began in earnest and there wouldn’t be another feeding for several hours. During the rainiest part of the morning, Astrid was on the nest box perch, while Ares was on top of a window pillar located above the east veranda. Both parents were completely exposed to the elements, which is typical. During their fast, at least two of the nestlings were seen picking at the scant about of leftovers kicking around in the box. There was at least one tug-of-war-war session between the growing chicks. And that wasn’t all, at one point a chick picked up a small chuck of something; Astrid noticed it and tried to take it, but the chick waddled around in a circle trying to hang onto it. A silly slow-motion chase ensued that Astrid obviously wasn’t taking seriously. Finally she grasped it in her bill and tried to pull it away, but the chick held on with its little talons. Astrid prevailed, but the first thing she did once she had it was to rip a little meat off and feed it to the same chick. By 10:00 AM, the chicks were screeching to be fed. Rain was still coming down, but somehow, Astrid retrieved some prey (a Mourning Dove) from storage. The rain let up by early afternoon and A&A were able to more easily hunt again. The next feeding took place at 1:48 PM. Astrid brought in a Pigeon this time. It was a large meal and all the chicks including number 4, got their fill. At 4:00, Ares was spotted plucking something on the hotel ledge. It was a Mourning Dove and he appeared to be making a meal out of it himself. Of course he has to keep his strength up too! As it turned out, there was plenty left when he dropped it off at the box at 4:17 and Astrid topped off the nestlings with it. At around 4:50, Ares was on duty at the box when Astrid apparently flew out after something. We don’t know if it was prey or another raptor or what she was perusing, but whatever it was it elicited an unusual response from Ares. He gave an alarm call and then flew straight up – landing on the roof of the nest box. This is something that, as far as we know, he hasn’t done before. Astrid has been up on the box’s roof before, as have some of the fledglings from years past, but never Ares. He soon came down and resumed his guard post on the nest box perch. As I’m writing this at 8:00 PM, the nestlings are getting restless in the box. Ares has been out of view for around an hour. He may be out hunting or just perching somewhere that we can’t see with our cameras.

 

 

Overnight was cool with fog developing in low lying areas like the downtown canyon. Temperatures rose quickly after daybreak and eventually soared into the mid-70s. There were multiple feedings in the early morning hours beginning at 1:45, when Ares brought in a small prey item. He did the same thing at 2:32 and, like the first time, Astrid did the feeding. At 3:45, Astrid brought in something larger – probably a Woodcock. While she was in the process of feeding the chicks, Ares came to the box and delivered another small food item. Astrid fed until the nestlings wouldn’t take anymore and then she left with the balance of the meal. At around 6:00 AM, one of the chicks – either # 2 or # 3 (these chicks really need names!) was trying to snack on a Woodcock head that remained in the box. He was competently holding the thing down with one foot while picking at it with his bill. Occasionally he would chomp on the bill. We were glad that he didn’t try to eat it. No, instead he fell asleep on top of it. Astrid stopped by the box at 7:00, and fed the nestlings some leftovers that were apparently still in the box. She was back an hour later – this time with something fresh. She plucked it right in front of the chicks and then fed out the entire thing. Ares came in with more food at 9:30. He passed it on to Astrid and she did the feeding. The youngsters were quite active in the box this morning. They walked around and changed positions many times. There was lots of stretching and wing flapping. Their walking is starting to appear more natural and less stilted.The beginnings of tail feathers are now clearly visible on the chicks and their wing feathers are also becoming evident.

At 11:20, we located Ares on the hotel. He was plucking what appeared to be a Mourning Dove. Ten minutes later he had brought it to the box and Astrid was serving it to the nestlings. At 2:40 PM, it was Astrid’s turn to be on the hotel ledge plucking prey. This time it was a pigeon. Five minutes later, she was seen flying off with it, but she didn’t bring it to the box until 3:10. When she came in she seemed to concentrate on feeding chick # 4. This should come as particularly heartening news to all that were concerned that the “runt” of the brood hasn’t been getting his share of the grub. After that feeding, once the chicks had their fill, Astrid began eating the leftovers – right there in the box, which is a bit unusual. While she was feeding, one of the nestlings (we think # 2 or # 3) started biting the ends of her primary feathers. Astrid didn’t even turn around much less protest or scold the little rascal. The sun was hitting the inside of the nest box pretty hard by mid-aftenoon. The chicks responded by moving into the corners where there was a little shade. Ares came to the box at around 4:45 and spent some time kind-of shading one of the chicks. It was more like he was shading half a chick. While he was providing this service one of the other nestlings came up and started making begging calls right into his face. To his credit, he soldiered on and soon the eager chick went and collapsed back into the shade. We expected there to be another feeding before night fall, but there wasn’t one. It looked like both parents made a few tries to get prey, but returned empty handed each time.

 

Overnight there was only a single feeding that took place. At 2:30 AM (ish) Astird brought in a hunk of leftovers (possibly a pigeon from the night before) and fed it to the nestlings. For the most part Astrid stayed in view of our cameras throughout the night, but that was not the case with Ares. Ares brought no meals nor did he visit the nest box at all in the overnight hours. Astrid didn’t call for him either, which either meant that he was present and accounted for on some perch that’s not visible to our PTZ camera, or he was out hunting for more vittles. Regardless, he seemed to be excused from provisioning the family and from chick checks – at least during the night-shift. At 5:10 AM, Ares finally arrived at the box and he had with him an entire Starling. Within seconds Astrid barged in, grabbed the food and started feeding. Although the morning started out cool and a little foggy, the sky cleared quickly and the morning turned warm with temperatures reaching into the 60’s.

Although the chicks still occasionally rest together in a big heap on the west side of the box, they are becoming much more ambulatory. They are preening more and flapping their wings more. They have also been growing in leaps and bounds. This is especially noticeable when they stand in close proximity to a parent. At 7:40 AM, Ares brought prey to the box. He started to feed the chicks and then Astrid came in and took over the job. This same scenario happened again 8:15. Ares clearly wanted to feed the nestlings this morning, but kept being thwarted by his mate. At 8:55, Ares brought another small meal, but Astrid was right there at the box, and so he didn’t even try to begin to feed. As it turned out, that would be the last feeding until 1:29 PM. At 1:52, Ares quietly (and without his characteristic screech) flew into the box and began feeding chick # 4, (which was excellent, since # 4 is almost always the last chick to be fed). Chick # 2 and # 3 soon joined in, but then Astrid blasted into the box and promptly sent Ares out. Ares dashed over to the church steeple where he appeared to be watching for prey, but by 1:56, he was closing his eyes and dozing. When Astrid finished feeding, she left the box and immediately displaced Ares from his perch. Was she telling him to do more hunting? In the late afternoon the sun was drenching the inside of the nest box. At 4:00, Astrid stopped by and made a half-hearted attempt to shade the chicks – well, one of the chicks anyhow. At 4:20, A&A had a rendezvous on the ledge of the hotel. The pair appeared to be doing a ledge display or something like it. This was the first time we had seen anything like this since the incubation period. Five minutes later, Astrid was at the box feeding the nestlings. It was only a short feed though. At 5:40 PM, Ares was back on the hotel and plucking a sizable bird – probably a Mourning Dove. Feathers flew from the ledge like confetti. Ten minutes later Ares dropped off the prey at the nest and Astrid did a long feeding. The three older chicks fed heartily while chick # 4 kept by itself by the east wall of the box. Earlier, Ares had fed that chick, so we aren’t that worried about it. The lot of the runt is to wait until the older, larger chicks get their fill before getting fed. As long as lots of prey continues to come in, we foresee no problem with # 4 getting enough sustenance. At 7:55 PM, once more, after leaving the nest box, Astrid displaced Ares from his perch on the steeple. Get out there and get us some grub, young man!

 

While the previous night was replete with feedings, last night couldn’t have been more different. In fact, only a single feeding took place. Ares came to the box with a small item of prey at 3:30 AM; he waited on the perch for Astrid for few minutes, and when she didn’t show up, he went ahead and fed the nestlings himself. Astrid was at the box on and off all night, but was nowhere to be seen when Ares called for her. It does seem to be an accepted fact now that Ares does some nighttime feedings. Why he’s doing it this year when he didn’t do it the previous three years is open to conjecture. Perhaps having four chicks to feed tips the balance and triggers this extra participation by the male. It was windy and chilly again today with high temps only reaching into the 50s. Rain threatened for most of the day, but little fell. Additional morning feedings took place at 6:24, 7:16, 9:32 and 11:58. All morning meals were delivered by Ares and featured Astrid doing the feeding. Also, the meals were all relatively small. After the 9:30 AM feeding, the nestlings were heard giving their begging calls. These calls are certainly increasing in decibels as the youngsters grow. The chicks did a bit more walking around and wing flapping in the box today, but they also spent a fair amount of time huddled up against the west wall of the box. Their eye masks are more distinct today and the feather sheathes in their wings and tails are becoming more apparent. At one point I saw one of the chicks make a grab (with its bill) for prey before Astrid had even plucked it. It wasn’t a serious attempt to steal the prey. No, we probably won’t see that behavior for another couple of weeks, but that’s hard to say decisively given the rate these guys are growing. At 12:45, Astrid was definitely in hunting mode. We saw her dash around the State Building and make an “S” pattern around the church steeple and the ADK Bank. She was moving very fast – aided by the wind gusts through the canyon. The first feeding of the afternoon took place at 2:22. At 3:13, Astrid brought in what appeared to be the remains of a pigeon (highly processed) and she conducted a feeding. Although the parents were spending very little time at the box today, for the most part they did remain in the canyon and in view of our PTZ camera. At 4 o’clock, Ares arrived at the box with food. This time he went right to the middle of the box and began feeding the one chick already in the center of the floor. The other three seemed content to stay against the west wall. Five minutes later, Astrid came in, took the food from Ares and commenced a proper feeding. She didn’t get far though; two minutes later something spooked her and made her leap out of the box with the meal. She must’ve been irritated by some movement in the office windows, because both her and Ares swooped and hovered in front of them. There defensive action didn’t last for long, but they didn’t resume with the feeding. Instead they zipped off toward the west of the canyon. At 6:30 PM, Ares snuck into the box with prey and began to feed. He got about five minutes into it before Astrid arrived and took over. At 7:20, we found Ares plucking prey on the hotel ledge. He had apparently caught a pigeon, which was interesting since it’s usually Astrid that specializes in taking pigeons. After he finished plucking and also partaking of some himself, he brought it over to the nest box. This time Astrid came over immediately. She took the meal and stored it back on the hotel. Perhaps it will be brought to the nest during the overnight session.