Peregrine Breeding Log for May 14 – 15, 2019:
Tuesday, May 14th was cool and very rainy again. Temps never got out of the low forties. Rainfall was never heavy but was near constant throughout the day. Astrid was on the nest all night and there were no overnight feedings. We didn’t see Ares until 5:37 when he showed up on the State Building. At that point Astrid started calling for him to bring food. After calling several more times she vacated the nest. She came back a few minutes later with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Obviously, Ares had caught the cuckoo. Did he not bring it over himself because he recalled Astrid’ loathing of cuckoo flesh? Regardless, she fed it to the nestlings as if it were pheasant. While she was still feeing the chicks, Ares flew out and caught something. He took it to a window ledge west of the box. She finished the feeding at 5:53 and took out the leftovers. She came back directly and resumed brooding the clutch. At 6:10 Ares was on a window ledge east of the nest.
At 6:48 Ares came into the box and asked for a turn brooding. The pair had a lively conversation inside the box with her still brooding. Three minutes later, he came in as she went out. Evidently, she decided to let him have a go. The brood was all his. He approached the chick mass with caution and then crouched down just in front of them. I’m afraid it wasn’t quite brooding as we know it. Astrid was back in no time. She ousted him and reclaimed the brooding enterprise. He came to the box with more prey at 7:23. Astrid snatched it from him, flew out of the box with it and then came back and conducted a feeding. She finished at 7:38, left the box but was back and brooding within a minute. Ares was screeching from the west veranda at about that time. We weren’t sure why. At 8:10 he brought a little chunk of food into the box. He came right inside with it this time and handed it to her like a secret courier.
At 10:05 Ares was heard screeching in the canyon again. He had what looked like a bat on a window ledge west of the box. It looked like he ate it himself. He then had a brief stay on the perch west of the box. A little later he was on top one of the window pillars just east of the nest. At 11:26 Astrid got off the chicks and left the box. She came right back and stayed on the long perch for a few moments. He then moved to another pillar – one that was right above the nest box. Astrid wasn’t happy about that and did a powerful amount of calling to him. At 11:33 she was out of the box again, but then right back a minute later. She left and came back again right after that. Clearly, she was searching around for stored food. Meanwhile, he seemed to content to watch her seeking out hidden food stores. She left and came back yet again, but retrieved nothing. Finally, at 12:12 she left and returned with a small hunk of something. While she was feeding, Ares switched to another pillar perch. He flew off at 12:38. At 12:43 he brought a starling to the crossperch. Astrid took it from him and began feeding the nestlings. At the start of the feeding Ares sidestepped across the perch and went over to the east veranda. It was a rather silly looking maneuver – more like a dance routine. She finished feeding at 1:06.
Ares brought another meal at 2:33. Astrid took it and did the feeding. The meal was done 15 minutes later, and Astrid went back to brooding the chicks. At 2:55 Ares made a lightning fast visit to the box. I think he picked up the leftovers and flew away with them. At 4:12 he was on the hotel ledge plucking prey. He brought it to the box. She took it and flew off, but subsequently we don’t know if she stored it or dropped it. Probably the former. At 4:18 she was on the steeple calling. He was in the box but not quite brooding – more laying in front of the brood. She came back to the box and took over on the chicks. At 5:12 we noticed that Ares had moved to the north face of the State Building. It was raining fairly steadily and he was crammed into the corner of a ledge probably trying to stay dry while still maintaining a clear view of the nest. He left his perch at 6:02 PM. Astrid left the box near simultaneously and landed on the steeple. Two minutes later he brought prey to the long perch. She darted back to the nest, landed on the corner of the cross perch opposite him and then ran across it as if she was possessed! She grabbed the food from him and then dove into the box to start feeding the nestlings. She was back to brooding at 6:27. Ares stayed visible on the State Building until 7:40 at which time he must have gone to a night perch. Astrid remained in the nest brooding. Good night falcons.
Wednesday, May 15th started out cool and overcast. Temps were in the low forties again but that changed as the morning progressed. By mid-morning the sun was out and temps rose through the 50’s. Astrid was on the chicks all night and there were no overnight feedings. At 5:07 she left the box and Ares came directly over and landed on the perch. He began trying to brood the nestlings, but Astrid was back before he really got on them. At 5:30 she started calling to him to bring food to the nest. At 5:50 she left the box again and went over to the steeple. Two minutes later they both came to the nest. She took the leftovers he brought and began to feed the young. She was finished feeding by 6:04 and returned to brooding. Ares brought more food at 6:30. Astrid scrambled on the crossperch to take it but they dropped it during the transfer. The prey fell and both falcons went down after it. She came back to the box without it. I moved the PTZ to check the street below and I could see what I presumed was Ares flying back and forth very low, but I didn’t see him pick up the food. It wasn’t obvious on the pavement either. He showed up on the State Building a few minutes later. If he did recover it, he must have stored it somewhere.
Astrid left the box at 7:17. We think she was looking for stored food. She came back to the box minutes later with nothing in her talons. At 8:56 Astrid left the box again and perched on the steeple for a while. She came back to brood at 9:10. She left again sometime after that but then returned to the nest with a Blue Jay at 9:25. We don’t know if she or Ares caught it – probably Ares. She fed the jay to the nestlings. At 10:13 Ares brought more prey to the nest. Astrid scrambled out to get it from him and almost dropped it again. She flew off with it and then brought it right back and did a feeding. She was back to brooding at 10:24. Ares screeched over to the steeple at 10:25. These two were being extra dramatic today for some reason. Ares was giving alarm calls from the steeple at 10:41. Deb said he was looking up at something. Perhaps a passing raptor. He flew off a few minutes later. At 10:45 he had prey on the hotel ledge and was processing it. He brought it to the box and Astrid took it. Initially it looked like she was starting to feed the chicks but then she abruptly flew away with the food. She came back with it, appeared to want to feed them again, but then flew off a second time. At 11:52 Ares was on one steeple perch but then changed to another only to go back to the first one again.
At 2:08 Astrid went to the steeple. It’s now clear the parents have decided the chicks no longer need to be brooded constantly and they can sometimes be monitored from afar. The chicks are pretty much remaining in one huddle in the center of the box. They do a lot of wiggling and some begging, but they seem content enough and warm enough. Deb saw one of the chicks flap its wings for the first time. Astrid was back and brooding again, but at 12:23 she was out of the nest again. Both parents were perched on the north face of the State Building for a little while. We hadn’t seen them do that in a while. At 12:27 she came back to the box, but 5 minutes later she was out again. At 12:36 she was back in the nest and brooding, and then, only moments later she was giving a cackle alarm call. He was on the State Building at that time. She left the box and flew to the steeple, but then took to the air again. He was up as well. We couldn’t find them for a few minutes and then Astrid returned to the steeple. She was soaked. Evidently, she had taken a bath somewhere. Ares screeched over to the box at 1 PM. He tried brooding for a few minutes but the went out onto the perch and just stood guard. He came in and tried to brood them again. They were restless and squealing by that point, so it wasn’t easy. Still he managed to half brood them for a little while. Astrid showed up at 1:27 and relieved him.
Ares brought food to the box at 2:39. Astrid took it and conducted a feeding that lasted about twenty minutes. By 3 PM the sun was flooding into the box and Astrid was providing shade as best she could. Once upon a time she relegated the shading job to Ares, but not lately. Of course, there haven’t been many sunny days yet. At 3:05 Ares came back with more food. Astrid seemed like she was going to do a feeding and then left with the food. She probably stored it somewhere. She came right back to the box and resumed trying to shade the chicks. It was an uphill battle for a while – covering them all, but she eventually managed it. She left the box at 4:04 and then came back two minutes later. At 4:12 she gave a cackle alarm call, but we don’t know what she was reacting to. Possibly it was an urgent request to get her mate to come and do some shading. They did switch at 5:13 but then Astrid took over again only five minutes later. After that she was in and out of the box a few times in rapid succession. The pair converged at the box at 5:37. He was in with the nestlings and she was out on the long perch giving donkey calls. She flew off just as the chicks began biting at Ares’ bill. He left after only six minutes of babysitting. A couple minutes later he was plucking prey on a window ledge west of the nest box. At 5:47 Ares brought the prey to the east veranda. Astrid was at the box by then and she scrambled over to get it from him. On her way to the chicks she fell through the gap between the crossperch and the lip of the box – nothing she hasn’t done before, but it’s never fun to see. She came back, stumbled over the lip of the box and did a feeding. That falcon needs to calm down! The meal was done by 6 PM. She flew out of the box with the leftovers and then returned to brooding 5 minutes later. It’s funny now to recall how just a short time back we were talking about how mellow Astrid had gotten. Well now she’s about as mellow as a mother grizzly.
At 6:11 Astrid gave a cackle alarm call at the box. Why, we don’t know. She left the box at 7:10 and went over to perch on the State Building with Ares for a while. At 7:30 she went over to the steeple. After that she made a few short visits to the nest. She seemed to be back for good and brooding by 7:37. Ares was visible on the State Building until about 8:10, after which he presumably went to a night perch. Good night falcons – or maybe not. Astrid abruptly dove out of the box as I’m writing this at 10 PM. I located her plucking and maybe feeding on the hotel ledge (it’s pretty dark). She came back with food at 10:15. The chicks weren’t getting up for it and she wasn’t coaxing them. She took the food out and returned at 10:20. I think we’re in for the night now?