Overnight Meals Resume & The Three (or Four!) Cuckoo Day

It was a chilly evening last night, but temperatures rose into the low sixties by mid-morning. Of course the gusty winds made it seem much colder. Leave it to the falcons to make a liar out if me. In my last update I wrote about how overnight feedings were a thing of the past and then last night there were two early morning feedings. The first took place at 2:06 AM, when Ares brought in what appeared to be a cuckoo. At 3:38, Ares brought more prey to the nest box perch, but then he waited about a half hour before feeding the chicks from the lip of the box. Astrid then came to the nest and gestured to Ares that it was time for him to leave. However, when he left he took the food with him. Astrid waited on the perch for about 40 minutes before finally feeding the chicks leftover scraps that were already kicking around in the box. At 7:45 AM, Astrid became very upset and began giving incessant cackling alarm calls from the east veranda. Ares had just sailed off – either after prey or after an intruder, we didn’t know which. Given the intensity of Astrid’s flip out, we believe that an intruder was involved. There seemed to be no other obvious causes of her anxiety, like active cranes or people on the roof. Finally she did settle down and at 8:12, Ares brought a cuckoo to the box. Astrid took it and did a normal feeding. Chick # 1 and # 4 were front and center for the food. The other nestlings got something but not much. The next feeding was at 9:50. Ares brought in a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Astrid started to feed, but then chick # 4 grabbed the whole meal away from her! Either Chick # 2 or # 3 started biting at Astrid’s tail. It seems the feedings are getting increasingly chaotic. Astrid soon tugged the prey back and started serving it out again. The next feeding was at 11:00. This time it was a Black-billed Cuckoo (Yes, a third cuckoo in one morning!) Astrid did the feeding as usual.  Through the afternoon A&A did some hunting, but didn’t manage to secure anything. Ares stopped at the box at 3:05 and fed the chicks some leftover scraps. The wind really picked up in the afternoon and the falcons were using it to their best advantage. They were soaring, hovering, diving and ascending with great ease. Meanwhile, the nestlings were getting restless and whenever an adult came to the box to check on them they were greeted by a screeching, hungry mob. One of the chicks (number one, I think) often stands in the center of the box and stares out into the canyon – watching and waiting for a parent to return. After not seeing Ares for some time, at 5:50 PM, he finally returned to the box – this time with a Mourning Dove. Astrid came in to deal with the feeding frenzy that ensued.  That wasn’t surprising given the length of time they went without a proper meal. After the feeding, Astrid did some fantastic gliding around the State Building and through the canyon. Ultimately she soared high and headed south. Following a quick check on the nestlings, Ares dove low behind M&T Bank, presumably trying to flush up some of the pigeons that hang out there. At 6:30, Ares was back to the box with food – this time it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Astrid took the prey and did the feeding. The final feeding for the day (I think) took place at 8:09 PM. This time it was a pigeon that had been partially plucked and processed. All four chicks got plenty to eat during the meal. Table manners were horrid and featured food grabbing, food stealing, tail biting, and some sneak attacks. I make no predictions about nocturnal feedings tonight. We shall just wait and see.