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.
