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Astrid was in the vicinity of the box for part of the overnight period. The nestlings were active on and off through the night. They seemed to be reacting to their parents nocturnal hunting. Of course, we couldn’t see them with our cameras, but the falcons possess far greater visual acuity. Astrid came to the long perch sometime in the small hours of the morning but was gone before 5:00 AM. At that time Ares was on the State Building. We noticed right away today that Freya had lost a lot of her white down feathers overnight and was looking darker and more like her brother. She didn’t have his taste for adventure yet. At 5:37 Gary went to the west veranda. Ares brought a small piece of food to the box at 5:45. We weren’t sure if he dropped it off or if he flew away with it. Ten minutes later Astrid came to the nest for a chick-check. She picked up a scrap of food from the floor and fed it to Kendra. At 5:56 Gary was flapping his wings like mad on the crossperch! That made us a little nervous. Was he really ready for that yet? By 6:19 Gary was back on the veranda. At 7:00 A&A were on the State Building while, in the nest, Freya was peering out into the canyon like it was the most fascinating place anyone had ever seen. Meanwhile Gary ambled back over to the west veranda – apparently without problem. At 7:18 he had moved to the base of the crossperch and nearer to the box. At 7:44 Astrid went up onto the roof of the nestbox. She was guarding against office monkeys again.

At 8:15 AM Gary went back into the nestbox. At 9:32 Astrid moved from the nestbox roof and joined Ares on the State Building. At 11:15 Ares brought food, Astrid took it and lost it to Freya who pulled it into the corner. All were screeching. At 11:22 Astrid was either hazing the 15th floor or she was doing a flight demonstration for the nestlings. There were no alarm calls so perhaps it was an instructional. At 11:24 Gary tried to get a share of the food Kendra was eating. That wasn’t about to happen, so he moved on to other activities. At 11:28 Gary was flapping and vocalizing a lot. Was he asking for food? At 11:39 Astrid came to the box with food. It was a pigeon. Gary came back into the box and she preceded to do an old fashioned feeding. All the nestlings were relatively well behaved. She fed Freya first and then the other two. Kendra was fed last but wasn’t shorted. In fact, Astrid kept stuffing food into her. Meanwhile Freya was crammed into the corner of the box with her bill pointing up against the wall. The meal was still going on when Gary ventured onto the east veranda for the first time. He was flapping his wings intensely on the veranda perch. He then did a slight jump onto the veranda platform. It was a good stunt for a young lad. After the feeding Astrid went to the State Building. Freya then began flapping her wings in the box and making the cast off feathers on the floor swirl into the air. At 2:38 the kids were all tired out. The sisters were in the box and Gary was on the east veranda. At 3:09 PM he was calling again and flapping his wings. Ten minutes later we heard Ares screech from somewhere in the Canyon. That started Gary flapping again. At 3:30 Freya was looking out into the Canyon with great interest. Gary was on the crossperch and then back to the east veranda. One parent was visible on the State Building.

At 4:45 PM Astrid visited the nest box. Gary was still moving back and forth between the east veranda and the crossperch. At 5:17 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid came to take it, but Gary had gotten it already. Both parents deported the scene as their precocious son picked at the prey and then jumped around with it. At 5:20 Astrid came to the long perch and was cackle-calling. We don’t know what got her going. Five minutes later both her and her mate were on pillar perches above the box. At 5:36 Astrid was on the east veranda picking at the meal that Gary lost interest in. She brought it into the box and Freya grabbed it away from her. Kendra got involved and the two female nestlings had a tugging match. At 6:39 PM Gary was flapping his wings on a crossperch once more. He was really feeling the wind on his wings. At 7:17 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Gary was already there. He took the food and began to eat it. Astrid then showed up on the east veranda and didn’t look very happy. She seemed poised to take the food back, but she didn’t. She came back a couple of minutes later and tried again to take it but failed. At 7:44 Ares landed on his pillar perch. After that he landed on the east veranda and took the food that Gary abandonded. While this was happening Gary was on the cross-perch begging. That roused the other two nestlings. At 7:48 Gary was on the crossperch again and flapping his wings. At 7:50 PM Astrid did a chick-check and got everyone screaming. She flew off after that. At that point Gary was on the base of the crossperch. At 7:51 Ares brought a hunk of food to the east veranda. Astrid met him there and processed the food. At 7:54 Astrid took the food to the nest and, predictably, Freya grabbed it she took it to the corner of the box and everyone was screaming. At 8:11 Terry was in the box looking around on the floor for tidbits. Fifteen minutes later he was back on the east veranda flapping his wings. At 9:00 o’clock PM both parents we’re on the State Building. At some point before 10:00 Astrid moved to a guard position on a window ledge to the east of the nest. Goodnight Falcons.

Astrid was in the nest vicinity for part of the overnight period. Ares dropped off a cuckoo at the nest at around 4:30 AM. Astrid wasn’t there at the time. Had she been present, she probably would’ve taken the cuckoo out and disposed of it. Freya was working on some scraps in the corner of the box. Gary hopped up to her and grabbed her with his foot before he started biting at the cuckoo. At 5:20 AM we heard Ares characteristic screech call. Gary ambled over to the west veranda at about that same time. At 5:22 Ares brought a cuckoo over to the west veranda, Astrid took it and then nearly lost it to Gary. She brought it to the box and immediately lost it to Freya. At 6:19 Ares came to the box, got the nestlings’ attention and then danced across to the crossperch and down the east veranda perch. At 6:58 Ares brought food to the west veranda. He fed Gary for a little while until Astrid showed up and took his prey from him. She took the food to the box where Freya stole it. By 8:00 AM it was raining in the canyon. That served to dampen the activity level of the falcons. At 9:08 one of the parents visited the nest box, eliciting squeals and screeches from Kendra and Freya. At 9:25 Astrid and Ares were perched close to each other on the State Building. They were on two different ledges but perhaps less than a foot apart. At 11:01 Ares screeched to the steeple perch. By that time light rain was falling; the two girls were in the box and Gary was on the west veranda. At 12:05 PM Gary rejoined his sisters in the nest. Astrid flew to her steeple perch and Ares went to his pillar. Gary gave loud begging calls in response to his parents’ movements. Astrid came to the box and Gary screamed in her face. He returned to the west veranda at 12:25.

At 12:30 PM Astrid came to the nest to do a quick chick-check. A half hour later she was up on the roof of the box looking at a blocked off office window. At 1:35 the chicks were all snoozing in the box. it was warm in there but not nearly as warm as it had been in recent days. At 2:48 Gary made his way back to the base of the crossperch. From there he decided to go right back to the west veranda – now his home away from home. At 4:21 PM Ares was heard calling in from somewhere in the canyon. He must’ve have brought back prey; Astrid met him somewhere, took the prey and headed to the west veranda. When she landed Gary immediately snatched the food from her. Astrid grabbed the prey back and took it to the box where Kendra immediately grabbed it and dragged it to the back corner of the box. Astrid thought about getting it back for a second but then gave up and left the nest. At 4:33 Astrid was at the box again. Gary came in too; he headed straight to the corner to feed on leftovers. Kendra took her turn feeding at 5:00. At 5:05 Astrid was on the long perch. Gary stepped onto the crossperch and stood near Astrid. She then made a show of opening her wings and flying to a west window ledge. Gary looked into the box and cocked his head as he watched his sisters flap their wings. At 5:48 Astrid was back to the box to do a chick-check. She stayed relatively close to Gary for a few minutes before sailing off to the steeple. As for Gary, it was back to the west veranda for him. At 6:51 Astrid flew to the box again. The two girls screeched at her while Gary began to make his way over. Astrid soon left, and Gary stayed on the near corner of the veranda for a while. At 7:42 the two girls were waddling around in the box and taking turns stretching their wings. Gary Joined them in the nest at 8:07 PM. For a little while he was snoozing with his head draped over the lip of the box. At 8:56 Astrid arrived at the box with food. Freya tried to take it but Astrid held it fast. She proceeded to feed the two girls. Gary stayed behind her, not vying for about five minutes and then he got in the chow line. All three youngsters had a good long feed. Astrid left the box at 9:09 PM. She was seen on the steeple after that. The steeple seemed to be her guard post for the night. Goodnight falcons and all.

Astrid was not seen around the nest vicinity very much during the overnight period. Ares came to the box with prey at 3:30 AM. All three nestlings screeched and squealed and one of them, I think Freya, stole the food and took it to the corner of the box. Astrid came to the long perch at 4:30 and the chicks exploded with excitement. She left but then came back fifteen minutes later and received a similar response. At 5:08, Ares was on the steeple and Gary was scrounging around for food (or toys) in the nest. He found a scrap of food, grasped it with his talons and hopped around with it. At 5:14 Kendra was seen doing some wing flapping while Gary renewed his interest in the lip of the nest box. He was more steady on it today than he was yesterday. Meanwhile Kendra picked up a cuckoo wing from the floor of the nestbox and tried to eat it. At 5:20 Astrid came to the nest with food. She conducted a pretty conventional feeding, with Kendra and Gary being served first. Gary was busy taking little bites off of a chunk of food she found in the back corner of the box. At 5:25 Astrid was through with the feeding, and she moved back to the box’s crossperch. From there she sailed over to the hotel to get some hunting done. At 6:17 Astrid was back to the nest for a quick chick-check and then out again. At 6:48 she was on the east veranda. At 7:17 Gary hopped onto the lip of the box again. Astrid was cackle-calling at 7:34. Gary responded by jumping back inside the box. Ten minutes later Astrid landed on the roof of the nestbox. It was Monday and the office monkeys were back from the weekend and, apparently, they needed monitoring. At 9:00 AM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid collected it from him and then, before she could rip into it, Gary interjected himself, grabbed the meal and took it the back of the box. There he fed on it by himself. His sisters seemed willing to wait for him to have his fill. Freya eventually took a turn feeding. At 9:31 we didn’t see Gary anywhere. He had been on lip of the box – seemingly contemplating making his way over to the east veranda. After a few minutes we located him on the west veranda. The recording showed that he made his way there with little difficulty. At 9:41 Gary was doing a lit of wing exercise on the veranda. He now had a taste for adventure was primed to have more.

Astrid came to the box to do a chick-check at 9:43 AM. She seemed not at all surprised to find Gary on the veranda. Of course, she seen this all before many times. At 10:30 Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid took it and fed the Freya and Kendra. Gary was peeking over at them as they fed – seemingly mustering the courage to hop over the perch and get back into the box. He found the courage and came back into the box in time to get his share of the meal. When the meal was over Gary went right back to the west veranda. It was like he had been doing it all his life. At 11:14 he was asleep on the veranda. Astrid was on the steeple at that time, but she soon moved over to a window ledge east of the nestbox. At 12:51 PM Ares screeched to the nest. That served to wake everyone up and get all the nestlings calling. Gary began flapping his wings. At 1:15 he seemed intent on getting back into the nestbox. A minute later he was in there visiting his sleeping sister – first one and then the other. Astrid did a chick-check at 1:18 PM. Both parents were upset and cackle-calling about something at 2:13. It could have ben office monkeys or, more likely, a flyover by a raptor. Gary was back on the west veranda at 3:17 PM, but then he made the move onto the crossperch. It seemed too soon in the game for a nestling to make such a move, but there he was. Ares came to the box with a cuckoo at 3:25. Astrid came out of nowhere to take it. She hopped into the box and seemed poised to do a feeding when suddenly she left the nest again and with the prey in tow. Most likely it was a case of Astrid being a member in good standing of the Peregrines Against Eating Cuckoos Society. She really doesn’t like cuckoos and she was making it as clear as she could to her family. At 2:30 Gary was slowly making his way closer to the nest. At one point he nearly tripped, but he held it together and managed to get back to the box. Minutes later all three were reclined around the nest. One of the parents showed up on the long perch and all three nestlings screeched but without getting up from their positions. It was very hot in the canyon with the temperature around 90 degrees. At around 4:20 PM Astrid was on the roof of the box. It’s likely she was monitoring activity taking place in the offices around the nest.

At 4:52 PM Ares came to the nest with food. Astrid took it and hopped into the box only to have it taken away by Gary. He fed on his meal by himself in the corner of the nest. For a while there was a storm threatening, but it never quite arrived. The wind picked up and the canyon darkened but there was never any more than a sprinkle of rain and a few claps of thunder. At 5:15 Astrid came to the box. She picked up the prey that Gary stole from her earlier and started a feeding. The nestlings were relatively well-behaved during the meal. At 5:42 Ares was on the long perch and Gary was on the lip of the box again. Ares brought food at 7:30. Astrid took it and tried to do a feeding but, once again, Gary stole the meal away from her and took it to the corner. By 10:00 PM Astrid was on the east veranda at her guard post. Freya and Kendra were sitting up in the box watching the canyon and Gary was zonked out on the floor of the nest. Goodnight falcons and all.

Astrid was at the nest area for only part of the time Saturday Night. We think she was hunting on and off through the night. She was on the long perch – occasionally darting off after prey. At 4:07 AM Ares brought in what looked like a cuckoo. It was probably something he pulled out of storage. Astrid took it and fed it to one of the nestlings for five minutes. She then abruptly fled the box with the leftovers. I’m sure we don’t need to remind the Utica Falcon audience that Astrid is no fan of cuckoo flesh. Astrid was on the steeple at 5:00, but still flying out after things at unpredictable intervals. At 6:24 Ares screeched to the box to do a quick chick-check. He then jumped into the box to look for food scraps, but the kids chased him out and back to the long perch. At 7:37 Ares brought a Black-billed Cuckoo to the nest. Astrid took it from him and started a feeding. She was immediately rushed by three crazed nestlings. Somehow, she managed to conduct the feeding without losing the food to one of the kids. The oldest nestling, now named Freya, fed on the carcass of a Great crested Flycatcher while Astrid concentrated on feeding the other two – Gary and Kendra. That’s right folks, the nestlings have names now. Thanks to all that submitted names!

At 8:06 AM both parents were on guard positions on their respective verandas. They remained in place for about an hour. At 9:07 we heard a parent’s cackle call from somewhere in the canyon. We don’t know what they were reacting to – probably a passing raptor or vulture. At 10:11 Gary was giving loud begging screeches to Astrid who was on the east veranda. She hopped deeper in on the ledge where he couldn’t see her. Astrid remained there until about noon and then both parents were out of camera view for a while. At 12:45 PM we heard Ares screech as he landed on the steeple perch. The three nestlings screeched and flapped their wings in response. At 12:51 Ares came into the nest with a Least Bittern. Freya grabbed it from him and took it to the back of the box. Astrid came at that point but didn’t even attempt to recover the food. Freya ate a small amount of the bittern and the other didn’t seem interested. Bittern is not a popular food for Peregrines. It’s right up there with cuckoo on the list of undesirable menu items. Gary did taste it at one point but was not compelled to eat it. At 1:30 Kendra managed to work on it for a little while, but there was still a lot left when she called it quits. At 3:30 we heard Ares’ screech. A box visit followed. The three nestling exploded with excitement – begging, chirping, and flapping their wings.

At 4:07 PM Ares got the kids excided once more by coming to the box and then moving to the east veranda. A few minutes later he came back into the box and was rushed by the two girls. Kendra was biting at his bill to get him to feed her. Ares did some shading after that, and the nestlings were fairly well behaved. It was 90 degrees in the canyon and not a breezy as it was the day before. At 4:30 Ares hopped out onto the crossperch and the nestlings screeched and begged. At 5:09 PM Gary was standing on the lip of the nest. He was looking at Ares on the east veranda like he really wanted to join him there. He walked across the lip of the box – going a few steps and flapping while he walked. He then jumped back into the box. At 5:19 Ares came to the nest with a male American Goldfinch. Astrid came in, plucked it and managed the feeding. The meal was over in two minutes. At 5:38 Gary was back on the lip of the box. Once a Peregrine nestling learns a trick they repeat it over and over. He as going to keep getting up on the box lip and he will likely try to get onto one of the verandas in the next few days. At 5:47 Gary put a lid on his lofty aspirations and joined the slumbering pile of chicks in the back corner of the box. At 6:39 Ares brought more prey to the nest. Astrid came to do the feeding. She fed mostly Gary and Kendra. Freya helped herself to some other scraps in the box. At 7:00 PM Astrid was hunting from the hotel ledge. We saw her taking off from several different perches. She was trying hard to get a Pigeon, but her quarry was eluding her. At 8:01 Gary was up on the lip of the box once again. Each time he gets up he seems more confident. Astrid came to the long perch at 8:42 but didn’t stay there long. She was on the State Building at 10:00 and seemed to be intending to spend the night there. Goodnight falcons.

Astrid was guarding the nest for part of the overnight period. She also spend time on the hotel, hunting Pigeons in the dark. Ares brought a small prey item to the nest at 3:23 AM. One of the nestlings immediately grabbed it and absconded to the corner with it. Ares was back with more prey at 3:41. That time he didn’t wait for Astrid to arrive or even for the nestlings to take it from him. He more or less just dropped the thing onto the box floor and left. At 4:26, pretty much the same thing happened. At 4:39 he arrived at the box with something small. Astrid arrived to take it this time, but then one of the chicks stole it from her. Astrid then picked up some forlorn prey from the nest floor, dashed into the canyon with it, only to come right back and started a feeding. The kids were good this time and she was able to conclude the meal. At 4:53 we heard Ares do a lot of screeching from somewhere nearby. He was on guard on his pillar perch after that. At 5:48 we noticed that the male nestling was trying to bring up a pellet. Ten minutes later, one of the females was coughing in a similar manner. Right then Astrid came into the nest with food. She fed the boy first and then the older female got some attention. The middle female was working some leftovers in her own corner. When Astrid was done serving out the meal, she moved to the crossperch and then onto the State Building. Meanwhile, Ares was still oh his steeple perch.

At 8:46 AM Astrid was in the box feeding the nestlings again. The nestlings were relatively well behaved throughout the course of that meal which lasted over 12 minutes. At 10:35 Ares dropped food off at the box. Astrid didn’t come over and he didn’t even try to feed anyone. For the next several hours the parents were seen semi-frequently on the State Building. They appeared to be in hunting mode. The wind had picked up in the afternoon, skies were partly overcast, and temps surged into the mid-80’s. The box was getting hotter as the afternoon wore on, but the parents no longer need to shade the chicks. At this stage they are capable of keeping themselves cool. At 3:26 the male nestling was again peering out into the canyon. Fledging time may come sooner than we hoped or expected with that bird. At 3:47 Ares floated over to the nestbox with a large chunk of food. Astrid swooped in, grabbed the prey, and started feeding her brood. It was another raucous feeding session for sure, but Astrid managed to keep them in line throughout. All three were fed together for the first half of the meal. At the end of the feeding the little male charged up to Astrid and forced her to leave before she was ready to. At 5:22 Ares came to the nest, hopped into the box, and picked around on the floor for food items. At 5:42 the male was pushing his head out of the box in an attempt to look at the east veranda. He was pumping his head and peering out into the canyon. He was also biting at the rim of the nestbox. At 7:56 the male nestling backed up onto the lip of the box – both feet were glommed onto it. he then opened his wings and pushed off back into the box. At 8:57 Astrid came to the longperch and that set the nestlings off squealing and flapping. We thought she had assumed her guard post for the night, but she was up again only a few minutes later. She will probably come back into view before too long. Goodnight all.