Category: Uncategorized

The overnight was cool and windy. Some showers were around in the morning and temperatures remained on the low fifties until afternoon when they got close to 60 degrees. The wind was persistent and strong, and it made it seem colder. Astrid brooded the chicks all night long. Ares brought prey at 3:28 AM and Astrid took a while plucking it. For some reason she fed out only a few bites and then took the food out to store it. Ares brought more prey at 4:48. Again, Astrid spent some time processing it and then only fed one of the chicks. The other nestling wasn’t vying for some reason, and we became concerned. At 5:24 the one we were worried about brought up a good-sized pellet. We believe that was the reason for its lack of appetite. At 5:33 Astrid took some leftovers out of the box. Ares arrived to take over when she left. He was just in the process of trying to brood them when she burst into the nest and ousted him. Astrid is very intense this time of year. At 8:16 the falcons switched, and Ares came back to chick-sit. Both nestlings were looking up at him and begging with high-pitched squeals. Two minutes later Astrid was back, and Ares was sent out. She quickly resumed brooding as he flew over to perch on the State Building. At 9:12 Astrid left once again and once again Ares came in to watch the chicks. Astrid returned two minutes later with what appeared to be most of a plucked dove. What followed was a fairly long feeding session in which both chicks vied and fed normally. Towards the end of the session, at 9:28 the nestlings were full and didn’t want to take any more. She reluctantly stopped feeding them and went back to brooding. At 10:10 Astrid picked up the leftovers of the last meal and seemed to have a moment of indecision; she didn’t know whether to remove the food and store it or, to feed the rest of it out right then and there. She opted for the latter course. A few minutes into the feeding it was clear that the chicks were full and didn’t want any more, but Astrid kept tying. She would try from one side, and then walk around to the other side and try again. The chicks would occasionally open their bills and accept some, but it was obvious their hearts weren’t in it. Why was Astrid so intent and feeding them so much? At 10:23 she gave up and went back to brooding. There was barely anything left of the meal anyhow.

At 11:18 AM Astrid was feeding out some food scraps. Twenty minutes later she gave a cackle-type alarm call while brooding the chicks. She didn’t leave the nest. At 11:57 Ares came into the box and tried to take over brooding. Astrid declined his offer and stayed in place. He gave up quickly and floated away on the wind. At 12:52 we noticed that she was shuffling the chicks fairly often. Days ago, we were blaming the heat for this behavior. Was she now doing it because it was chilly? The falcons switched at around 1:40. Astrid was out, and Ares was brooding. She came back to the box at 1:53, but Ares wanted to stay so she allowed him to, and she left. At around 2:20 Astrid came back to the nest with food and then proceeded to serve it to the chicks. Ares left the box. At 3:11 PM it had warmed up sufficiently (around 60 degrees) so that Astrid was half-brooding/half-shading the nestlings. At 3:32 Astrid was out, and Ares was in. She came back a few minutes before 4:00 and Ares was out. Ten minutes later she was trying to bring up a pellet while brooding. Ares brought a pre-processed Morning Dove to the nest at 5:00. Astrid lunged out in fast motion to take it from him on the crossperch and then she conducted a feeding. Both chicks seemed to eat well. Although one of them did some wandering around in the box mid-way through the meal. After the meal Astrid left the box and Ares came in to mind the chicks. He watched them as they explored the nestbox, but seemed at a loss about how to get them corralled. Astrid then came in and took over. She went to the corner, cupped the wayward chick with the shoulder of her wing and shuffled it back to the middle of the box. She is a no-nonsense falcon mother! At 7:17 Ares brought something small to the box. Astrid took it and started another feeding. It lasted less than five minutes and then she was brooding again. At 7:24 Ares was on the State Building again, probably in hunting mode. Twenty minutes later he was out of view. Everyone seemed set for the night by that point. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Falcon Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kQ1VkzzHbI

The overnight was warm with temperatures in the 60’s. After dawn it quickly warmed up into the 70’s and was breezy. Strong Storms arrived in the midafternoon. Astrid was in and around the nestbox all night. Ares was later than usual with his first food delivery – coming to the box at 3:46 AM. It was something fairly large. Astrid took it, plucked it, and then fed it out to the nestlings. Less than an hour later, at 4:43 Ares was back with the second meal of the morning. Astrid took it and tried to interest the chicks in eating so soon after their last meal. They rallied. At 5:37 there was a changing of the guard and Ares was on duty in the box. Astrid had gone to the State Building. At 6:12 the parents were in nest guarding positions on either side of the nestbox. Since it’s Monday and people were soon to be back in their offices, Astrid will have lots to be mad about. As the young continue to grow, she gets increasingly sensitive about people in windows near the nest. At 6:18 she did a quick flyby of the 15^th floor office windows and then hopped into the box to brood the chicks. By 6:45 she went up to the roof of the box to stare at that office window. At 7:09 Ares was in the box with the nestlings. Both parents were in and out of the box quite a bit over the next couple of hours. At 8:20 Astrid was back on the roof of the box, glaring into the window and through the blinds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWt8nDO-NoM

At 9:23 AM Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid hopped down from the box roof to take it and then she proceeded to conduct a feeding. At five minutes before 10:00 the parents were in their nest guarding positions once again – on the verandas. At 10:14 Ares brought in another meal. Astrid took it and got into another feeding session. Again, both parents were in and out of the box periodically, doing “chick checks” but not much brooding. At 11:57 she got back up on the box roof. Ares screeched to the box at noon to do a chick check. At 12:58 PM Ares brought another meal to the nest. Astrid took it and conducted a long feeding. Towards the end of it, Ares came onto the crossperch and gave some long calls including a couple of warbly long calls, the meaning of which is unknown to us. At 1:15 the meal was over. Astrid blasted out of the box, swooped by the 15^th floor once and then went over towards the State Building. Ares then came into the box, picked up a bird leg that was lying on the floor and started trying to feed it to the chicks. It was his first feeding session with them this season and, even though the chicks were already stuffed, they did accept some pieces from him. He did a great job of tearing small pieces off the upper leg and gently putting them into the nestlings’ gaping bills. He also made some squeaking calls while he fed which was interesting since he’s been most often mute during the feedings he’s conducted. Contrast that with Astrid who also gives loud motivational chirps during feedings. Feathers from recently plucked birds were swirling around in the box during Ares’ brief feeding time. By 1:18 he was back out to the crossperch and soon after Astrid arrived in the box to brood. At 1:22 Ares came to the box with a bat. To our surprise Astrid took it and successfully fed it out to the nestlings. How they were still able to eat more was a great mystery. There may only be two chicks this year, but the eat enough for four or five.

At 1:57 PM Ares was on duty brooding the chicks in the nestbox and Astrid was on the box roof. The storm was approaching, and we wondered if Ares would be staying with them through the storm. At 2:55 just as the rain and lightning began Astrid flew into the box and impatiently ousted Ares. He left and she got on top of the chicks (and the eggs as well). The rain was very heavy and the wind relatively intense for several minutes. By 3:20 the storm had mostly passed although some lightning/thunder was still close by. She left the nest at 4:10 when the storm was well passed. At 4:45 she came back to the box with food – probably from Ares’ pantry. She fed the chicks for about ten minutes and then brooded them. After the storm came through the temperature dropped about ten degrees and it was actually cool for the first time in nearly a week (down to 60 degrees). At 5:18 Ares came to the box and asked for a turn with the chicks. Astrid declined the switch request, and he went to the west veranda. By 6:00 PM the rain and wind kicked up again. Rain fell heavily for a while but there was no lightning this time. Astrid remained in the box brooding the chicks. Ares had been on the State Building but left at some point before 6:15. Astrid called out from the box at around 6:18 – perhaps she saw Ares going after something. By that point the rain had diminished to a drizzle. At 6:28 Ares came to the long perch with prey (already processed). Astrid came out to take it from him on the crossperch. As Ares floated off on the wind, she started feeding the eager nestlings, their crops already ridiculously full. Ten minutes into the meal she kept encouraging them to take more and the chicks were complying (that is when they weren’t falling over in a food stupor). The chicks upright or not kept up with continuous begging calls. Between Astrid’s insistent chirps and the chicks’ begging, it was a more raucous sounding feeding than usual. The feeding ended at about five minutes before 7:00 PM. Astrid started brooding them directly after the meal. It was chilly and the wind made it colder. Likely she will stay on them all night long. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emAuNxfYMdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haQP5lX376o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IFSE5UaXb4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLSVKVRoOq4

The overnight was warm with some light rain. The skies became overcast by late morning and more rain threatened and finally fell in late morning. Temperatures were in the mid-seventies until late afternoon when it reached into the high seventies. Astrid was in and around the box all last night – alternately guarding and brooding. Ares brought prey at 2:29 AM. Astrid accepted it and fed the chicks. At 3:40 she went out and fetched something else from Ares’ pantry and did a second feeding. At 4:18 Ares brought more prey. He hopped into the box to deliver it to Astrid. She grabbed it and conducted the 3^rd feeding of the morning. At 5:23 we noticed that Ares was on the State Building. Five minutes later he brought more food to the nest. After handing it off to Astrid he moved to the east veranda. Astrid began feeding one of the chicks. But then, noticing the nestling’s lack of interest, she picked up the meal and flew out of the box with it. We think she took it away and made it her own meal. Ares came into the box about ten minutes after Astrid had left. At 5:45 she was back and she relieved Ares. She went right to brooding the clutch while Ares moved to the west veranda. At 7:39 Ares flew from his perch on the steeple to the nestbox and had a turn guarding the chicks. By 8:03 Astrid was on duty – alternating between brooding the chicks and guarding them from the crossperch. She came back with a meal and was feeding the nestlings at 8:27. Once the meal was finished both falcon adults spent some time guarding the box – her on the crossperch and him on the east veranda perch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBVHiKZXVA

At 9:50 AM both parents were up. Ares screeched back to the crossperch moments later. At 10:00 Astrid was back in the box with what appeared to be a Catbird. She was feeding the already full-looking chicks. Once again, their crops were bulging. Ten minutes later she was out, and Ares screeched back to the long perch. By 10:46 she was in the box brooding again. At 11:27 she had food and was engaged in yet another morning feeding. Ares was on the west veranda at the time so perhaps he had brought it. At 11:43 the meal had ended and Astrid was back to brooding the chicks. By this point it was raining in the downtown canyon. At 12:50 PM Ares moved to the long perch and was giving long calls. Astrid was brooding but she called back to him. While she called her posture was defensive as if she was guarding the chicks from Ares. Of course, then she abruptly decided to leave and let him have his turn. After contemplating the squealing chick pile for a few minutes, Ares decided to do some digging in the corner. At 12:56, only five minutes after leaving, Astrid came home and took over brooding. At 1:18 Ares had moved to the steeple. At 1:52 He came to the box to have another turn with the chicks. Astrid vacated the nest and flew to the State Building. Obviously, at one point he left because he screeched back to the nest at 2:35. His call made the chicks start squealing. Less than five minutes later Astrid returned and took over. He then relieved her ten minutes after that. It seemed like their shifts were getting incredibly short. The box was half shaded by that time, and the amount of sun reaching the interior was increasing. Still, it was a slightly cooler day with high temps in the high seventies and it stayed breezy so conditions were not so extreme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoEKGUIGUME

At 3:59 Astrid was shading the chicks. Ten minutes later they were squealing at her. At 4:15 she was feeding them. Most likely Ares brought the meal since he was on the crossperch at the start of the feeding. At 4:57 both parents were in the box. Ares was shading the chicks and it seemed like Astrid wanted to take over – that she did. By 5:18 the chicks were on opposite sides of the box, and they would stay that way for the subsequent few hours. Astrid was out on the crossperch, obviously confident the lower temperature and the wind were enough to keep the chicks cool today. At 6:29 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it and flew off towards the hotel – probably to take a share off the top, or maybe to process it some more. She was back in the box a couple of minutes later and starting a feeding. With the chicks so far separated in the box she had to feed them one at a time – switching sides in between. It took one chick some convincing to get it to eat. Astrid seemed to give up at one point but then persisted and had success. When the feeding was over at 6:39 Astrid took out the leftovers and presumably stored them.  For a while both parents were in guard positions – her on the long perch and him on the veranda. At 8:00 PM Ares was still guarding, and Astrid was on the State Building. Also, the chicks were still in their separate corners. Astrid came into the nest at 8:16 PM. She went for one chick and then the other trying to decide whether to move them together or not. She decided to leave them separated for the time being. At 8:27 she shuffled them back together, There was much squealing but they seemed happy to be reunited when it was over. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Update: The Little Falls falcon chicks have their eye masks already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IJBsUj7zVI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8bsmrqovY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqbjcEvz8v4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvDmng0IuY

The overnight was once again very mild with temperatures in the 60’s. By early afternoon temperatures were in the in the mid-80’s. As far as we know Astrid was close to the nest or in the nest most of the night. The moon was nearly full, and we think that Ares may have used it to hunt by. He brought prey to the box at 2:10 AM, 3:06, 3:54, and 4:12. Only the 3:54 food delivery was refused, and that food was probably stored. At 5:10 we saw that Ares was on the State Building. He was up again an hour later. Meanwhile Astrid was alternating between being on the nest and being on the crossperch. At 7:50 she was on the crossperch, and he was on the long perch. At 10:02 he brought prey to the nest area. Astrid took it from him on the east veranda, flew off, boomeranged back to the box, and conducted a feeding. At 10:38 Ares came to the box with more food. Astrid handled the feeding. At a few minutes before 11:00 we noticed that Ares was on his pillar. A few minutes later Astrid was on the roof of the box – irritated with people in an office adjacent to the nest. At 11:21 Ares screeched to the nextbox. Apparently, he had brought a scrap of food. Astrid took it and did the feeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M_Z90cxt_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CaPBgVIAAg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUdydmD9cTc

At 12:22 PM Ares was inside the nestbox. Fifteen minutes later they switched, and Ares took over brooding and guarding duties. The switches were happening more often than usual this afternoon. The pair switched again only 15 minutes later. Astrid took over – still alternating between shading and guarding from the crossperch. Ares was on the steeple at 12:56. Astrid left the box at 1:08 but came right back. Did she order Ares to retrieve some prey? Both falcons were at the box at 1:30. The sun was not completely flooding the box at that point. At 1:32 the chicks had moved to opposite sides of the box – showing that they were quite ambulatory now. At a few minutes before 2:00 Astrid had gathered them up and was shading them – also occasionally shuffling them. At 4:30 she had food and was doing a feeding. Ares probably brought it, but we were unable to confirm that with the video. He was on the steeple at that point. Astrid flew off with the leftovers since she wasn’t able to interest the chicks in having more than a couple of bites. Ares came in right after she left and resumed shading. By this point the sun was almost filling the box. They switched at 4:45 and then Astrid was on duty again. They switched again at around 5:05 and then, two minutes later, they switched one more time. At 6:13 he screeched to the nest box just after she moved to the west veranda. It had suddenly become overcast and windy in the downtown canyon. At 6:24 she was in, and he was out. Light rain began falling at 6:25 PM. She was out at 6:53 and he came in two minutes later. At 7:00 she was doing another feeding. She was finished five minutes later and went out to the crossperch. At 7:34 she was feeding them once again. Ares brought it and then he went to the west veranda. She was really stuffing them! Their crops were bulging and appeared to be as big as their heads. At this point, Astrid seemed in place for the night – or at least, reasonably in place. She continued switching between the box and the crossperch until quite late. Goodnight all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPqdUDolW5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTDrSSY7yqY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mj78kpjzs

The overnight was balmy with temps in the 70’s. After daybreak the air warmed quickly, attaining near 80 degrees by noon and the high eighties by mid-afternoon. Fortunately, there was more of a breeze today that helped give some relief. Astrid switched between being on the crossperch and bring inside the box for much of last evening. However, by 12:22 Ares was on the long perch and Astrid was on the State Building. He doesn’t often get tasked with late night chick-sitting, so this was unusual. Ares brought prey to the box at 2:20 AM. Astrid took it and conducted the first morning feeding. At 5:34 Ares screeched to the nestbox. She was on the State Building at the time. Five minutes later he was gone, and she was on the crossperch. At 5:46 Ares brought food to the long perch, but then took off with it before Astrid could accept it. Astrid was in the box at that time. She left the nest and fetched Ares back. This time she took the prey and proceeded to feed the nestlings. When the meal was finished, she went back to brooding. At 6:17 we noticed that Ares was up on the roof of the Adirondack bank Building. Perhaps he was using the lamp post he was on as a hunting perch. At 6:43 both falcons were up – perhaps coordinating a chase. A few minutes later he screeched to the box. He left when she came inside to brood ten minutes later. She then went back and forth between brooding and perching on the crossperch. At 8:22 she went up onto the roof of the nestbox. That could only mean that she was concerned about activity in the offices around the nest site. At 8:56 she was back to the crossperch. Two minutes later Ares arrived with food. Astrid accepted it and commenced a feeding. At 9:06, after the meal was over, Astrid flew into the canyon and Ares gave a long call. This time it was him switching between brooding and perching on the crossperch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1fkTbQaKNc

At 9:22 AM Astrid was back at the nest and Ares was out of view. At 9:35 she hopped up onto the box roof again. Twenty minutes later she was back to switching between the crossperch and brooding inside the nest. At 11:41 Ares brought a goldfinch to the nest. Astrid accepted it and carried out a feeding. During the meal we noticed how the chicks now have obvious crops and they were looking quite full. At 11:50 the feeding was done, and Astrid flew out into the canyon. At a few minutes before noon, she was back and on the roof of the nestbox. While up there she gave dirty looks to the office windows. At 12:42 PM she was back to watching the nest area from across the canyon on the State Office Building. Ares came to the box a few minutes later and shifted back and forth between brooding the chicks and being on the crossperch.  At 1:46 it was Astrid’s turn in the box. The afternoon was heating up and the sun was increasingly invading the box. Still, it wasn’t too bad yet. She switched between shading and standing out on the crossperch. At around 2:48 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. At 3:06 Ares was taking a turn shading. The sun was now flooding most of the box. Ares worked hard to shade the two chicks and he occasionally let the eggs go uncovered. This is the first time this season that they have showed signs of halting their care of the eggs. At 4:18 Ares gave a cackle-type alarm call from the nest. Probably some passing raptor or vulture was the cause.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeNI6FhD8Xo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNL003n2eJA&t=13s

Just before 5:00 PM Astrid came to the nest and unceremoniously displaced Ares by pulling the chicks over to her. He stayed for a few minutes, casting shade on nothing, and then he left. The contrast between the shading techniques of the two adults is interesting. Ares passively shades the whole time he is on duty, while Astrid shades for a certain amount of time and then actively shuffles the chicks and makes them move. Sometimes her shuffling seems rather rough but keeping the chicks moving is obviously an important part of keeping them from overheating. At one point Astrid was only shading one of the chicks. The other was against the wall. She then adeptly grabbed it and moved it underneath her with the shoulder of her wing. It was a kind of scooping action. Sometimes she uses her bill to pick them up, but we didn’t see her do that today. One of the eggs was left uncovered for a little while and then, at one point Astrid noticed it and started shading it with her fanned tail. At 6:34 Ares came to the nest with a Blue Jay. Astrid took it and immediately began plucking it. She then started serving it to the chicks, but they weren’t really interested. After only giving one chick a couple of bites she flew out of the nest the rest. Ares came into shade after she left. At 7:03 Astrid was back with the jay. Ares left when she came in to start the feeding. When the feeding was over, she left, and Ares came back. She took over from him for the last time at 8:32. Initially she was brooding but then moved out onto the crossperch. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Falcon Update:

The Little Falls chicks are now ambulatory on their nest ledge!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFSfhWObSUg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZyr18ZmpHA