Thunderstorms in the Canyon & Lots of Exercise by the Nestlings

The overnight was enlivened by an after midnight thunderstorm. Astrid was at the box through most of it. Of course she was on the outer perch receiving the brunt of what the elements had to offer. There were no feedings during the rainy overnight hours. Ares visited the box at 5:00 AM, but didn’t have any breakfast with him. Five minutes later, Astrid arrived with food. At 6:00, Astrid was seen doing some flying around the State Building. Actually, the parents did a lot of soaring around today – between storms and showers, that is. At 6:55, Ares stopped at the box, again without food. He picked up a bone that had been laying on the floor and tried to give it to one of the chicks. The chick took it, but then dropped it again. The nestlings look much different today than they did yesterday, with much more of a salt & pepper look as dark contour feathers push up through the downy white fluff that covers their bodies. The development of their wing and tail feathers continues at an astonishing pace. In a matter of days they will have completely outfitted falcon wings. At 7:35, Astrid entered the nest with most of a pigeon carcass. She then began a feeding that would go for over a half an hour, with one interruption. At 9:29 AM, Ares brought in an unidentified chunk of prey. Astrid came in to do the feeding. At 9:50, Ares brought in more food, but the chicks were already so stuffed that only one put its head up to feed. After taking a few bites, that chick was done and so Ares took the leftovers out and presumably stored them somewhere. In the latter part of the morning, A&A were both seen dashing off after prey – sometimes alone and sometimes as a team. By 12:30 PM. They had both been out of sight for a while as another storm was looming. Not long before the storm hit, both parents came into view and Astrid took her station on the outer perch of the nest box. Through lightning and very heavy rain, Astrid again stood her ground, right until the storm finally abated. During the storm the nestlings remained quiet and huddled. After the storm, A & A resumed their hunting forays around the downtown area and likely beyond and into their greater territory.  At 4:54 PM, Astrid brought in some leftovers (looked like a pigeon wing and a bit more) and started feeding the eager crew.  The dynamic in the nest during feedings usually follow the same pattern. Chicks one and four get in line first and chicks two and three hang back a bit. Chick two usually ends up strongly vying for his share and chick three typically grabs a hunk and takes it over to the corner of the box and picks at it. As I’m writing this update, at 7:45, the nestlings are mostly sacked out, but all are facing out toward the open part of the box. Chick one is the only one standing upright, but also is looking out and toward where their parents are perched on the State Building. Ares just darted off toward the north and then sailed right back up to where he had just been, and when he did the chicks all moved their heads to track his flight. I assume there will be another feeding before nightfall, but as usual that’s never a sure thing. As I’m wrapping it up here, suddenly, Astrid began giving constant alarm calls from the State Building. Nothing seemed to be amiss. Ares was still on his perch and there were no signs of intruders. I wondered if she was doing this to get a rise out of the pigeons that nest in the adjacent buildings. If so, it doesn’t seem to be working – at least not yet.