Peregrine Breeding Log for May 26 – 27, 2019:
Sunday, May 26th was relatively warm right from the start. Skies were partly cloudy and a insistent wind developed by noon. Temperatures rose into the 70’s. Astrid was in the vicinity of the nest for most of the overnight period. She left the long perch at 2:40 AM and Ares came over shortly after that. He had prey and proceeded to feed the nestlings for a few minutes. Following that he was out again. At 2:56 Astrid came to the box and did a more conventional feeding. Astrid brought more food in at 5:04 and carried out another feeding. The nestlings moved around in the box quite a bit after that meal. At 6:11 Deb noticed that Ares perched on a window ledge on the State Building. They usually don’t perch on ledges next to window unless no person is occupying the adjacent office and, of course, that would be the case on a Sunday. At around that time Astrid was on a few different perches and seemed to be in hunting mode. A visit by Ares to the box at 7:21 got the chicks up and squealing. A minute later, Ares was back with a cuckoo he pulled from storage. Astrid took it from him and handled the feeding.
By 8:40 the parents had been out of view for a little while. Ares arrived on the long perch at 8:56. The chicks went wild with excitement. He left only to reappear a minute later with a cuckoo. Obviously, he took it out of storage. Astrid blasted into the box, took the prey and started feeding it out. One nestling stayed in the back during the first part of the feeding, but by the end he had replaced another in the front row. All nestlings seem to by vying well during the meals. At 9:20 Ares brought more food to the box – this time it was something mangled and unrecognizable. Astrid did the feeding. At just before 10 AM the adult falcons were heard giving alarm cackle calls. We didn’t know the cause. At 11:30 Ares screeched to the box again. The four nestlings responded by all squealing back at him with full force. Ares screeched back from the crossperch. It was as if he were conducting a strange dissonant choir. One of the singers was holding a feathered food scrap in its foot and picking at it with its bill. At 11:36 Ares went and pulled yet another cuckoo out of storage (it’s like he has a whole cupboard full of those things!) He transferred it to Astrid somewhere away from the nestbox. She brought it to the nest and did the feeding. During the feeding she gave one chick an entire upper wing. It first tried to swallow it, but then tried holding it down with its foot and pulling bits off it.
Both parents were back on the State Building by 11:44. The wind had really picked up and feathers from plucked prey were swirling around inside the box and blowing out into the canyon. Just before noon, two of the chicks were cackle-calling together in the box. At the same time the parents were moving around a lot. They were taking advantage of the strong winds and using them to zip around the territory. We would get occasional glimpses of them sailing though the canyon. Astrid stopped at the long perch at 12:39. The nestlings squealed at her like they had at Ares before her. She soon sailed off again. Ares made a similar visit to the east veranda at 1:10 PM. After that he remained out of view for most of the afternoon. Although she refrained from visiting the box, Astrid remained in view most of the time, and was usually on the State Building. The temps in the afternoon were in the low 80’s and the sun drenched the nest box. However, the persistent wind was a moderating influence. I don’t think it was uncomfortable in there. The chicks snoozed quite a bit, and then at 3:46, one nestling picked up a scrap of food from the floor and walked around with it, occasionally biting at it. Ares showed up in the canyon and at the box at 3:48. His visit made the chicks writhe with excitement as they anticipated a meal. He left a minute later.
Ares made another stop at 4:12. While he was on the crossperch, Astrid floated in with a large meal. It was a whole Pigeon. After some plucking, she got down to feeding the raucous chicks. She fed them for about 40 minutes with a short break or two, and then she was out. After she left, one of the chicks walked around grabbing at scraps of food with her foot – it was all good practice. Astrid was back in the box feeding out something at 5:30. After the food was gone, two of the chicks bit at her bill a few times. She was out by 5:40 PM. Both parents were on the State Building for quite a while after that. Generally, the nestlings were calm, although some mayhem did prevail on occasion. At 8:11 two of them simultaneously gave cackle alarm calls. Astrid stopped by the box four minutes later but did not stay. She went to the hotel ledge where she was probably watching for prey. She was back on the crossperch by 8:51. Ares remained visible on the State Building well past 9 o’clock which was unusual for him. Good night falcons.
Monday, May 27th had a mild start. Skies were mostly clear, and temps were in the 70’s by noon. Astrid was in and out of the nest area in the overnight hours. At 2:58 AM Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid was on the hotel at the time. When he didn’t show up, he went ahead and began feeding the nestlings, but he didn’t get very far. Two of them were over-zealous and kept biting at his bill. He opted to take the meal back out on the crossperch and wait for Astrid. Meanwhile she was making hunting forays from the hotel ledge. What exactly she was hunting at 3 AM is anybody’s guess. About a half hour later he tried feeding one or two of the nestlings right from the lip of the box, but that wasn’t working out either and he took the meal back onto the crossperch where he occasionally nibbled on it himself. She finally did come to the box and fed out what was left of the meal he brought. At 5:09 he came to the box with more food. This feeding was more conventional. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. The meal was done by 5:12 and then both parents assumed adjacent perches on the steeple.
Ares brought something small to the box at 7:07. Astrid did the feeding, which was only about two minutes long. Ares had prey on the hotel at 7:40 and was busy processing it. Four minutes later had taken it to the nest. This time he handled the feeding and it was much more competently done than his earlier attempt. While his triumphant feeding was taking place, Astrid had a Pigeon on the hotel. She had a share before she took it to the piranha tank. Finally, she flew over to the nest and began doling out the feast. She was done about twenty minutes later. At 10:09 Ares brought food again. Astrid took it and began a feeding. That meal was over in ten minutes. At 10:20 Ares was heard screeching from somewhere in the canyon. Astrid gave a cackle alarm call at around 11:30. We didn’t know what that was all about. Ares screeched through the canyon again at 11:35. At noon he was enjoying a sun bath on the ledge of the hotel – with tail feathers all spread out. A few minutes later he screeched up to the west veranda. At the same time Astrid dove from her perch on the steeple. Following that they were both on the State Building.
At 12:46 Ares flew to the box with a Black-billed Cuckoo in his talons. After a moment’s hesitation he hopped into the box and began to conduct a feeding on his own. He did this even while Astrid watched from a perch on the State Building. He was about a minute into what seemed to be another competent feeding when Astrid bust in. Instead of handing the meal over to her, he left it. With nothing to feed the chicks, Astrid left too. Although this wasn’t the first time this had happened, it still was curious behavior and subject to interpretation. Following Astrid’s departure from the box, a couple of the chicks engaged in some intense wing flapping. Feather growth is very apparent in both their tails and wings. The temperature rose into the mid 80’s by early afternoon and the winds kicked in as well. Astrid & Ares were on the State Building when an intruder flew through the canyon. Both gave cackle alarm calls, and both scrambled into action – Astrid first. They chased the unidentified raptor north and caused it to lose altitude in the vicinity of Harbor Point. We couldn’t get much detail on the intruder, but it was larger than the falcons. They were both back to their perches on the State Building two minutes later.
At 2:15 Astrid brought food to the box. As soon as she presented it, one of the female nestlings latched onto it with her bill and commenced a tug-o-war with her mother. Astrid ultimately prevailed, but it took longer than one might expect. As soon as she had it back, she began feeding the same chick that tried to steal it. The meal lasted only five minutes. She was back with more food at 2:31. Again, she had a tug-o-war with one chick. All were relatively well-behaved after that and the feeding lasted at least 15 minutes. Ares brought food at 5:35. Astrid collected it from him from somewhere near the nest box. She was out after ten minutes. After that, both parents were on the State Building for quite some time. At 8:20 Astrid seem to go into hunting mode. She was seen on a few different perches in short order. After hunting from the hotel, she moved to a window ledge on the State Building. That’s where she stayed until well after dark. I think Ares remained in place as well, but he was so jammed up into a corner that he became invisible as the light faded. Good night falcons.