There was an unexpected thunderstorm overnight. Luckily it wasn’t severe and it didn’t seem to impact the falcons’ nocturnal behavior much. Ares was visible on the north face of the State Building well into the evening and Astrid was on the steeple off and on through early morning. Ares brought in prey at 4:15 AM, and Astrid tried to do a feeding, but for some reason only one chick was interested in partaking (we were not sure which one it was since it was so dark in the box). Astrid forked over a few bites and then left with the food. Later on the rain became steady and it hampered the adults’ hunting abilities. Both parents waited it out on their respective perches, allowing themselves only a few short breaks to check on the nestlings. As expected, Ares was rushed by a hungry, screeching mob during his turn at box. He tried to go in and feed out some leftovers on the floor, but they wouldn’t let him do it. At 9:25, Ares brought in an unrecognizable hunk of prey. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings, who incidentally, were suddenly on their best behavior. That feeding was about eight minutes long. The next meal came in at 11:20. Astrid brought it and did the feeding. Following that meal, there would be nothing brought to the box for several hours despite increasingly shrill begging calls coming from the young. Astrid finally came in at 5:15, and fed out some food that had been lying around on the floor of the box. As it turned out, there was quite a bit and at least three of the chicks got something. By 6:45 PM, we hadn’t seen Ares in a few hours and were starting to wonder if he was taking Friday night off. Astrid seemed to be scouting around for him a bit, but then coming back all alone. Finally at 6:55, Ares returned with most of a Mourning Dove. Astrid took it and fed the crew. All four stood in line and received a good share this time. Another meal came in at 8:23, and this time the prey was an American Woodcock. Astrid did a short feeding and then took the leftovers away and stored them on the State Building. The Nestlings are looking and sounding more and more like Peregrine Falcons every Day. Max’s plumage is the most advanced and it’s not a stretch to think that he will be the first to fledge. It makes sense, since he was the first male to hatch and male falcons develop faster that females.
