Peregrine Breeding Log for May 18 – 19, 2019:
Saturday, May 18th was chilly and overcast in the very early morning, but then the skies cleared, and temps rose into the 60s. Astrid was on duty at the nest for most of the night. I know I missed some action since my streaming video turned off sometime after midnight. She was definitely gone from the box a couple of times in the pre-dawn hours. In the hour of 3 AM Ares came to the box with prey and, since Astrid wasn’t around, he got to conduct his first feeding of the season. Deb reviewed the video and said that initially Ares stayed on the long perch with the prey for about 10 minutes before jumping in to feed the nestlings. During the feeding he kept looking up and around as if he expected Astrid to burst in and grab the food. At 4:45 Astrid was out on the long perch and calling. Ares showed up on the State Building at around that time and it’s likely her calls were directed at him. At 5:30 she left the nest and seconds later she was plucking something on the hotel. Three minutes later she was feeding the nestlings. By 5:40 she was done and flew over to the steeple. At 5:55 Ares brought prey to the crossperch. Astrid darted in and snatched it away. She hopped into the box and began feeding the chicks. The meal was finished at 6:03.
At 7:09, both adults were on the hotel, one had prey. Astrid was in the box feeding the nestlings by 7:15. Deb watched the feeding and texted to me that chick # 1 (dubbed “Lazy”), was off to a slow start but eventually shoved its way to the front to compete with chicks # 2 and # 3. Chick # 4 was apparently content to sit out the first few rounds of the feeding but eventually pushed its way through the pile enough to snag some choice morsels. Astrid fed them for about ten minutes. She brooded them following the meal. At 8:45 the falcons were in the midst of another feeding, but we have few details on that one other than Astrid carried it out. At 9:07, A&A were both perched on the steeple and looked like medieval griffins. Ares was in and out of the box at around 10 AM. She was on the crossperch 15 minutes later. She brooded for a while and then was out of the box at 10:56. At 11:04 A&A were both on the hotel ledge. They were perched near each other and appeared to be sunbathing. They both had their tail feathers spread out like fans. She left the hotel at 11:13 and we didn’t see her for a while after that. Ares remained on the ledge. For a while he was trying to bring up a pellet. At 11:33 Ares left the hotel and headed for the box, landing on the crossperch. Interestingly the nestlings began squealing in anticipation of his arrival – but they started calling right from the point he left the hotel. They couldn’t have seen him, so they must’ve heard him screech upon leaving the hotel. When he did arrive, he hopped into the box and then walked in a half-circle around the chicks as if he were inspecting them. He then jumped back onto the crossperch. At 11:41 he was back in and brooding, and doing a fair job of it. The chicks squealed a bit and begged to him, but he wasn’t put off. Astrid finally showed up on camera again at 11:48. She was on the State Building. She seemed to be very much in hunting mode. Three minutes later she zoomed off to the northwest – after prey we reckoned.
Ares left the box and noon and two minutes later he was plucking prey on the hotel ledge. Right after that Astrid sailed by him. She too had prey, but we couldn’t find where she went with it. At 12:11 Astrid was heard giving cackle alarm calls. Just where she was we had no clue. The food Ares had been working on was gone by 12:14. We weren’t sure if he ate it all or stored it, or even if Astrid took it. At 12:15 Astrid came to the box with what looked like most of a pigeon. She began an awkward feeding session from the lip of the box. Why she didn’t come all the way in was a mystery. Only one chick was in range to be fed initially. It was a long feeing (about 20 minutes) and she eventually came all the way into the box and the other nestlings partook. When she left the box a wing of the meal remained in the corner. She took a perch on the State Building and Ares soared around the canyon a few times – making three passes by our PTZ cam. He landed on a ledge adjacent to hers on the State Building. At 1:45 Astrid came to the box and did some brooding, but she didn’t stay for long. At 2:06 Ares screeched by the nest and landed on the east veranda. A little while later he was in the box and doing a good job of brooding the chicks. Astrid came in and took over at 2:33. An hour later he brought food to the nest. Astrid took it from him and conducted the feeding. We’re not sure how long the feeding went or how long Astrid stayed.
At 3:50 PM Ares screeched back to the box. Astrid was located one of the lower steeple perches. The nestlings were all spread out on the floor of the box. They were all trying to be in the limited amount of shade available. At 4:58 Ares came to the box and checked on them. While he was there Astrid arrived with prey and began a feeding. Only three of them fed during the meal. One of the chicks bit Astrid’s tail. At 5:11 the meal was over, and Astrid left the nest. At 5:22 A&A were on steeple again. Ares came to the nest with prey at 5:26. Astrid dashed over and grabbed it form him and then started a feeding. Two of the chicks were completely passed out on the floor for the beginning of the meal. In fact, Astrid started by feeding only one of the chicks – the youngest and smallest one. A second one waddled over to the feeding spot and demanded its share. Slowly the other two rose up and joined in, but it took a few explosive calls from Astrid before they roused. All seemed to get their fill and then Astrid was out. At 5:56 Ares came to the crossperch, but then hopped over to the east veranda. At the same time Astrid stationed herself on the steeple and the two remained in those positions for nearly two hours. During that time, the chicks were lounging around the box in various positions – sometimes all in one heap and sometimes slightly separate. They all had noticeable crops, so they were more or less fat and happy. At 8:22 Astrid came to the crossperch and seemed to adopt that as her night station. Ares was off out of camera view. Night night falcons.
Sunday, May 19th was a mixed bag. It had a rainy start with some thunderstorms coming through. By mid-morning, rain gave way to clearing skies and very warm temperatures (80’s). Severe thunderstorms threatened in the afternoon but never quite materialized. Astrid was at the box area for most of the night. At around 1:15 AM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it inside the box but didn’t begin a feeding. She flew away with it instead. At 2:25, Ares brought more prey. This time she accepted it and fed the chicks. At around 4:15 Ares was on the long perch with prey, but Astrid didn’t come over, nor did he seem inclined to handle the feeding. He just stayed out on the perch with it dangling from his talons. She was on the State Building for at least part of that time. Finally, at 4:40 she came over, grabbed his offering and fed it to the nestlings. A thunderstorm hit shortly after the meal was finished and Astrid remained brooding the chicks while it ensued. At 6:34 the storm had passed and Astrid went out onto the crossperch. From there she moved onto the west veranda. At 6:49 Ares was located on the hotel. From there he went to the west face of the State Building. He likely had food stored there because the next thing he did was to bring food to the box. Astrid took the prey and did the feeding. Chick # 4 was particularly feisty during the meal. By 7 AM the feeding was done, and Astrid left the box.
After being on the hotel ledge for a little while, Ares came to the nest to check on the chicks. Astrid came over next and did some brooding. At around 8:20 Ares brought a Blue Jay to a window ledge west of the box. Astrid scrambled across the veranda perch and over to the ledge in order to collect it. She then flew to the nest. She plucked the jay for quite some time as the nestlings waited. She fed the chicks for about 20 minutes. She was on the west veranda after that. Ares arrived at the box with more food at 9:11 and Astrid conducted another feeding. The meal was finished at 9:30 and then she brooded the chicks for a short while. Ares was heard calling form somewhere nearby. Deb picked him out on top a pillar over the nest box. By 10:00 both parents were out of view, but not for very long. At 10:32 Astrid completed an awkward handoff of prey at the box. She flew off with it. First, she took it to the hotel and then she was on the State Building. We didn’t know if she stored it or ate it. Ares came to the box at 10:40. We didn’t know where she was for a while and then at 10:57 we spotted her on a window ledge east of the box. She was peering into a window.
At noon I heard one of the chicks give a practice cackle call. It still needs some work. Astrid hopped up onto the roof of the box for some reason. While up there she looked menacingly at a Carpenter Bee that was buzzing around in circles. Five minutes later she was in the box and checking on the nestlings. The group had become separated. One was in a corner by itself. She first concentrated on shading that one. As it protested, she shuffled it away form the wall and tucked it beneath her. The other three were clustered behind her tail. It made for an awkward scene. She eventually got them all together, but they weren’t cooperating much. They begged and squealed as she moved them. By 12:35 all four were flopped down on their bellies. And she was standing behind them. She flew over to the steeple after that. At 1:05 Ares landed on the east veranda. A few minutes later he was giving cackle alarm calls. Both he and Astrid remained in place which probably means he was reacting to a transient raptor or vulture. At 1:20 he gave the alarm call again but this time from inside the box. Astrid looked alert but still wasn’t leaving her steeple perch. Ares then checked over each nestling, shaded one of them for less than a minute an then hopped onto the long perch.
At 2:15 the wind speed was increasing, and strong gusts were more frequent. Feathers were blowing around inside the nest and many were streaming from the mouth of the box. At 2:30 Ares arrived with food. Astrid grabbed it while he stood on the crossperch. She then began feeding the chicks. At first chick # 4 didn’t seem interested in joining his siblings, but he soon rallied and received a goodly share of the meal. Astrid left when the feeding was complete at 2:45. Five minutes later one of the chicks did some convincing wing flapping. The four chicks continue to increase their mobility. Soon enough that will extent to places outside the confinement of the nest box, but for now the nest box floor is their stage. As the interior of the box warmed up (mid-80’s) the chicks all flopped down in different spots on floor of the box. At 3:37 Ares arrived at the nest with prey. It looked for a moment like she was going to let him do the feeding, but then she arrived, snatched the prey at started doing the job herself. She finished at 3:43 and flew back over to the steeple. After being out of view of the cameras for a while, Astrid came to the box at 4:17. She did a quick chick check and then went over to the steeple only to fly back five minutes later. For some reason she flew to the top of the box and remained there for about 25 minutes. The chicks got excited seeing her tail protruding from their ceiling. At 4:41 she started giving major cackle alarm calls. She flew off like a jet fighter, but we had no idea what her issue was. A few minutes later she was on the steeple and he was on the State Building. There was a severe storm threatening the region; Was she upset because of that? She does hate thunderstorms. 
At 5:05 she was back at the nest attempting to corral the chicks and shade them. For the most part she was just shading one chick and it wasn’t appreciated. Right then it was Ares turn to give an alarm call. He darted out from his perch on the State Building. He was back at 5:54 with food. He brought it to the box where Astrid received it and began a feeding. At the start of the meal, one chick (I think # 4) remained in the corner and didn’t join the others. Four minutes later he stumbled over and began successfully vying with his siblings. The meal was finished at 6:08, after which Astrid left the nest. We didn’t see her again until she landed on the lower steeple perch at about 6:43. At 8:00 Astrid was on the hotel ledge plucking prey. It wasn’t known if it was something she caught herself or not. Five minutes later she was at the box feeding the nestlings. The meal was finished at 8:17 and she was out. Ares had been on the steeple but was gone after that. Astrid flew up to the box at 8:21 and stayed out on the long perch. That would seem to be her post for the night. Although that may change if we get any storms. Good night falcons.