Busy Day in the Canyon Despite the Rain & Packing Those Chicks Chock-Full

Last evening, Astrid stayed at the box for most of the night. Ares brought a small meal in at 2:30 AM and Astrid fed the nestlings. At 5:36 Ares arrived with another meal and again, Astrid did the feeding. The chicks spent yet another day all in a tight group at the back, right-hand corner of the nest box and mostly out of view of our favorite in-box camera. These guys are making it difficult for us to monitor their growth. For the most part, all we can see is the size of the chick pile growing. At 6:00, Ares stopped at the box to check on the nestlings. While he was there he picked up a cast-off bird leg from the floor and then turned like he was going to leave with it, but then appeared to have second thoughts; he turned back around and tried to give it to one of the nestlings. The chick took it for a second and then dropped it. Despite today’s rainy weather A&A did a lot of hunting today and (mostly Ares) secured a great variety of prey including: Pigeon, Black-billed Cuckoo, Starling, Chimney Swift, bat, and more. More feedings came at 7:40 and 8:20. After the latter meal, the chicks’ crops were packed full and we were sure there wouldn’t be another one forthcoming, but at 10:10, Ares brought in more prey and the feed bags were strapped on once again. Less than an hour later Ares brought a bat and Astrid fed it to the young like it was their standard feathered fare. By 12:30 PM, the rainfall had intensified. Ares had been out of view of our cameras since he dropped off the bat. Astrid began giving long calls from the box’s perch. She seemed to be calling for Ares to come guard the box or (believe it or not) to bring more food. At 1:46, Ares returned to the box with prey and Astrid fed the young. At 2:36, Astrid returned to the box with a pigeon wing. I’m not sure if she fed any of that to the nestlings or not. Ares brought more food an hour later and Astrid served it up to the chicks. During a subsequent “chick check” Ares picked up a few scraps in the box and fed them to willing nestlings. Obviously he likes to keep his hand in with the feedings. At 5:36, with the PTZ camera, we located Astrid on the hotel ledge. She was processing a Pigeon she just caught. When she finished plucking (and having a serving herself), she made a grand entrance into the box – diving right past Ares who was on guard duty at the time. She then conducted a marathon feeding. Well before the end of the meal, the chicks were plainly stuffed. Each one of them had bulbous crops sticking out of their necks. It looked like they had two heads each. Undeterred, Astrid kept chirping at them and compelling them to take still more food. At 6:20 one of the chicks surprised us by testing its version of a Peregrine alarm call. It wasn’t too bad for a beginner. Ares brought in the last meal of the day (we think) at 6:45. I’m pretty sure it was a Chimney Swift. It was a truly tiny bird, which Astrid took, processed, and doled out to the babies. The chicks tried to rally to their mother’s call to feed, but were still too full to take more than a few nibbles. Tomorrow is supposed to be a warmer day. Perhaps we will finally get a good look at these chicks and make some determination on which are males and which are females. We shall see.