Peregrine Breeding Log for May 22 – 23, 2019:
Wednesday, May 22nd began slightly chilly, but conditions improved quickly. Skies were mostly clear and temps rose into the 60’s by mid-day, topping out in the 70’s by late afternoon. Astrid was in and around the box for most of the overnight period. There were three pre-dawn feedings: at 2:15, 3:40 & 3:55. Astrid fed each time and Ares provided the food for at least the first and last meal. Ares arrived with official breakfast at 6:46. Astrid flew in to take it and did the feeding. Ares was out of view for a while during the mid-morning. Presumably he was out hunting. At 9:32 Astrid landed on the top of the nest box. Ten minutes later, Ares screeched to the steeple and then made some long calls. Astrid hopped down onto the east veranda, but then went right back up onto the box roof again. At 10:27 Ares was heard screeching through the canyon. He landed on the steeple again and gave long calls. It was Déjà vu. Not quite, that time Astrid moved to the west veranda instead of the east. Both converged at the box at 10:40. It looked almost like they were performing a ledge display, but with four chicks as witnesses in the corner. Oh yes, and Astrid was hardly encouraging to her dance partner, letting loose her most shrill cry in his ear. After a couple of awkward minutes, he got the message and left the nest. He was back one minute later with a whole Black-billed Cuckoo – obviously one he had stored somewhere nearby. She fed out the whole thing to a raucous clutch. They were all strongly vying for the food and at one point two of them had a tug-o-war over one morsel. The meal was over at 11:00.
Two minutes later, Ares screeched by Deb’s window and landed on top a nearby window pillar. He gave a few long calls. Astrid was on the east veranda at that time. Soon after that, both parents were out of view. At 11:35, two of the chicks were doing some wing flapping. One practiced his cackle calling. Ares came to the box at 11:44 and Astrid showed up on the hotel at the same time. He found a scrap of food on the floor of the box and tried feeding it to the nestlings. When the unsatisfied chicks got a little feisty, Ares went out onto the crossperch where they couldn’t reach him. At 1:22 Ares brought a Blue Jay into the box. Astrid wasn’t around and so he began the feeding. For five minutes he did a very passable job and then Astrid blasted in, snatched the food away from him and carried out a “proper” feeding.
At 2:11 Astrid got upset about movement in an office adjacent to the nest box. She pretty much stayed upset for the nest two hours. She kept a tight watch on the nest box during that period – often giving alarm cackles and dramatically swooping in and out a lot. Both were guarding the box from either side at 3:30 PM. By 4:18 she had calmed down a lot. She was in the box trying to feed out some scraps of food that were on the floor. At 4:51 Astrid came to the box with a big meal. She spent the next 25 minutes stuffing the nestlings. After that A&A took perches on the steeple. At 5:30 Ares returned to the nest with a scrap of food. Astrid took it and fed it to the chicks. She was done and out a few minutes later and both were on the steeple again. At 6:10 Ares flew to the nest and picked up a scrap of food from the floor. He flew to the hotel with it and, I think, ate it. The parents moved around quite a bit in the next hour – all predictable places. By 7:38, the chicks had all stumbled to the opposite corner of the box. For whatever reason (probably because they were more ambulatory) the nestlings seemed a lot larger today. We may have two females and two males this year which would constitute a first for the Utica nest. We’ve never had more than a single female in a clutch in any given year. Last year (2018) all three young were male. At 7:54 Astrid was calling form the box. We think that meant she wanted Ares to get food. She was on the steeple at 8:07 and he was on the hotel at least until 8:22. The chicks were all sacked out in the corner of the box. She arrived at the box at 8:46. Good night falcons.
Thrusday, May 23rd started out mild with temp in the 50s. Skies were partly cloudy in the morning, but clouds rolled in by afternoon. Temps peaked in the low to mid-70’s and there were a few rain showers in the afternoon. Astrid was in and out of the box during the night. At 3:30 AM Ares was on guard at the nest while Astrid was over at the hotel. At 4:16 Ares brought food. Astrid met him on the crossperch, took the food and did the feeding. As it became lighter in the box we could see that the nestlings had developed dark masks over their eyes. Astrid was back at the nest at 5:22 and she was calling for Ares to bring the next meal. He complied ten minutes later. She handled the feeding which was long and lasted over 25 minutes. Ares did some snoozing on the east veranda as the meal ensued. For the next hour ½ or so, Ares remained on the veranda and Astrid was over on the State Building. She did a quick chick check at 7:34.
At 8:12 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid scrambled over the crossperch to grab it. The meal lasted just over ten minutes. At 8:54 both parents were on the east veranda which was unusual. Astrid went from there to the roof of the box. Ares screeched over with food at 9:30 and Astrid hopped off the roof to get it from him. No surprise – she did the feeding, which only took five minutes. At 11:19 Astrid brought a Red-bellied Woodpecker into the box. Presumably she received it from Ares. The meal was over at around 11:30. After that Astrid took a few different perches until 12:35 PM when she came to the west veranda. At 1:10 Ares was spotted on the hotel ledge with prey. Two minutes later he was screeching over to the box. Astrid collected the food and started right in with a feeding. Fifteen minutes later the meal was done, and she was out of the box. At 2:10 Astrid was on the steeple watching a Pigeon perched on the State Building. Both predator and potential prey took off and Astrid was out of view for a while. Ares was on guard on the west veranda for much of that time. At 3:30 the nestlings were becoming more active. They were lumbering around the box, flapping some and even preening. They may still look like snowmen but they are beginning to act more like birds. At 3:36 we located Astrid. She was on a window ledge east of the nestbox. At 3:36 Ares brought an entire Yellow-billed Cuckoo to the nest. Astrid snatched it from him and started feeding the chicks. Apparently, she hasn’t instituted a cuckoo ban yet this year. The nestlings ate the meal without hesitation. At around 4:35 another meal was served up. It was quickly finished – perhaps it was only scraps.
At 5 PM one of the chicks was practicing its cackle calls. Ares came over from the west veranda to do a chick check at 5:48. While there, he tried to feed out a scrap of food to the chicks. At 7:05 Ares was plucking prey on the hotel ledge. Astrid had been on the steeple. A minute later she was taking the food from him on the west veranda. She brought it to the box and did a feeding. Following the meal, he was on the State Building and she was on the steeple. By 7:40 she was on the hotel plucking a Pigeon. After eating a portion, she took what was left over to the box and did a feeding. She was done at 8:13 and by the wind had really picked up. A storm was bearing down. Ares flew to the east face of the State Building to take cover and Astrid came to the nestbox. Some small hail began pelting the box at 8:30. Astrid was inside and perching over the four nestlings huddled in the corner. The worst of the storm was over by 8:45 and skies began to clear in the west. Weather looks clear for the rest of the night. Good night falcons and all.