Peregrine Breeding Log for June 3 – 4, 2019:
Monday, June 3rd had a seasonably cool start. The wind picked up early and continued through the day. Temps eventually reached the low 60’s. Astrid began last night in the vicinity of the nest. There were no overnight feedings. Ares was on the long perch at around 4 AM. Astrid was on the hotel ledge at that time – likely hunting. At 4:57, Astrid brought a hunk of something into the box. One of the chicks snatched it away from her and brought it to the back of the box. Astrid left and the thief appeared to be feeding on her prize. Of course, the other three were begging for the parents to bring more. At 5:15, Astrid was back in the box and feeding. She fed for about 15 minutes. At 6:21, she came to the box for a chick check. The strong winds were making the parent’s flights quick and effortless. They were doing a lot of floating and darting. At 8:05, Astrid parked herself on the east veranda. She just sat there giving an intense look to the office window. The shades were down but she suspected that someone was in there.
At 9:17, Astrid plunked down onto the roof of the nestbox. Right after that, Ares showed up at the box with prey. One of the nestlings stole it from him and headed to the back of the box. Ten minutes later, Ares landed on the crossperch. He started giving chirping calls and it made all the nestlings go bananas. They were all calling and flapping. Astrid showed up right when Ares left. She came into the box but the onslaught a hungry chicks made her jump out again. At 9:35, Astrid was on the west veranda. Meanwhile, in the nest at least one chick was feeding itself. At 9:57, Astrid was in the nest again feeding the chicks. It was probably leftovers she was working with, but we didn’t know for sure. The meal didn’t last long. At 10:32, Astrid was swooping by 15th floor windows on the bank building. It’s likely someone went too close to a window. Astrid really doesn’t like Mondays during the breeding season. After having the canyon pretty much to themselves for the weekend, suddenly there are too many people back in offices. At 10:53, Ares did a quick chick check at the box. They were doing a lot of those today. However, since the main camera (AKA “fisheye”) had been splashed with whitewash. An opaque spot on the lens makes it difficult to tell which parent is on the long perch. At 11:00, Ares floated to the long perch with prey. Astrid floated down to take it from him. She ballooned away and then sailed back. She came into the box and started feeding the nestlings. Two of the chicks were feeding and one was biting at their mother’s tail. She was out after five minutes of feeding. She kited on the wind before landing on the State Building.
As we progressed into the afternoon, the parents, for the most part, stayed very active, often changing perches and doing fairly frequent chick checks. Most of all they seemed to be taking full advantage of the high winds to fly everywhere with little or no effort. However, it didn’t seem to be helping their hunting success. Nothing was brought to the nest for a long stretch of time. At 12:35, Astrid was feeding out some scraps in the box, but following that there were no feedings until late in the afternoon. At just before 1 PM, Astrid was giving cackle alarm calls. We didn’t know why. She was on a pillar west of the nest box at the time and Ares was on the State Building. A few minutes later, three of the nestlings simultaneously gave their versions of the cackle call. It was a cackling chorus. Between 1:45 and 4:20 PM, the parents did 7 chick checks. Nearly each one elicited great excitement from the nestlings – especially the later visits when the young were hungrier. During Ares’ 3:30 check in, I noticed how much the wind was buffeting him. It’s a good thing that Peregrines have grappling hooks on their feet. Astrid too, when perched on top the pillar, had to keep adjusting her angle to stop her tail from catching the wind. At 4:30, more parent-produced alarm calls were sounded. Again, we didn’t know why. Fifteen minutes later, Astrid floated by Deb’s office window on her way to the box to do a check in.
At 5:34, One of the parents flew by the nest at very high speed. Twenty minutes later Ares brought a fresh Starling to the nest. The chicks went wild. One grabbed it away and took it to a corner. Ares didn’t try to get it back, opting to leave instead. Two chicks had a tug-o-war over it that lasted about a minute. Moments later, at 6:01, Ares brought a Red-winged Blackbird to the box. A chick tried to snatch it away, but Ares held fast this time. He started trying to feed a chick from the rim of the box, but then one chick grabbed the food away again. After contemplating his next move on the crossperch, he dove back into the box and tried to get the prey back. He failed and made his retreat to the crossperch. He tried again, and that time he was victorious. He then fed out his prize to one of the chicks while the other picked at the stolen starling in the corner. It worked for about four minutes and then it was pandemonium in the box again. They wrested the prey away from him and he couldn’t get it back. Meanwhile, Astrid had finally caught her Pigeon. We suspected that she had been trying for one for much of the day. After plucking it on the hotel, at 6:23 PM, she brought it to the box and conducted a very orderly feeding. Yes, the same nestlings that gave their father an incredibly hard time, were all well-mannered during their mother’s feeding effort. She does know how to command respect though. The meal was a long one and didn’t finish until 7:02, after which, she floated away on the wind. She then jetted by on a northward heading, only to soar through again a minute later. She ended up on a pillar above the box.
At 7:39, Ares came to the box with the bottom half of a small-ish bird. He handed it off to one of the stuffed nestlings, who just let it drop. Ares picked it up again and this time took it to the lip of the box (facing out) where he proceeded to eat it himself. After consuming about half, he turned around and gave it to one of the chicks. This time it was accepted. Good work Ares! Astrid did a nice flyby in front of the PTZ camera at 7:44. She landed on the long perch, but then went to the steeple. Ares was on the State Building until around 8:20.
Tuesday, June 4th featured a cool start, but we eased into the 60’s faster than on the previous day. It wasn’t nearly as windy either. Astrid was on the steeple until quite late Monday night. I’m not sure how close she was to the nest after that. Ares brought a small food item to the box at 2:30 AM. Astrid didn’t come to collect it. Instead, a chick grabbed it and pulled it to the back of the box. It looked like Ares thought about going in after it, but decided not to and flew off. At 4:10, he brought larger prey. This time Astrid appeared out of the night, took the food on the long perch and began a feeding. I’m not sure how long that feeding lasted, but Astrid was on the steeple by 5:42 and Ares was on the State Building. At that time, one of the nestlings was doing a lot of wing flapping in the box. The plumage on the chicks has been changing dramatically over the past few days. They all have the salt & pepper look now as dark contour feathers cover their backs. The two older chicks also have tan feathers coming in on their chests. Flight feathers in wings and tail are now quite pronounced.
At 6:52, the nestlings were giving a chorus of cackle alarm calls. It was all just practice. At 7:26, Astrid visited the box for a chick check. At 7:50, a parent made a quick stop to the east veranda. By 8:30 AM, the State Building maintenance workers began power washing the windows. Astrid and Ares took guard positions on both verandas. At 9:25, both parents checked in at the nest box at the same time. Ares gave an alarm call from the long perch. At 9:26, both were on the steeple. The workers on suspended scaffolding were visible on the north face of the State Building right behind where the birds were perched. By 10 PM, they were both up and out of view. Astrid was back checking the box at 10:19. She was conducting a feeding at 10:26. It was a cuckoo. Did it come from storage? The feeding was done by 10:42. Ares brought a starling to the box at 10:58. Astrid grabbed it from him and did another feeding. She was out at 11:04. At 11:40, Ares came to the box, extracted a small scrap of food from the floor and left with it. Astrid was on the steeple perch where he had just been. Had she displaced him? Questions, questions.
At 11:41, Astrid was flew to the box. From there she hopped onto the east veranda and from there on to the roof of the box. At 11:49, Ares came to the long perch with more food. This time it was a Cedar Waxwing. Astrid jumped down to take it. Once she had it she flew off to the west. I thought that she might be heading for the hotel, but she made a wide circle and landed back at the box. She then conducted a standard feeding. The meal was done and she was on the steeple at 12:15. Both adults were there a half-hour later. Ares was up at 1:08. About ten minutes later the nestlings were giving their practice alarm calls. At 2:02, Ares was heard calling from somewhere in the canyon. He did a chick check a few minutes later. At 3:15, Ares brought prey to the west veranda. Astrid came screaming in, grabbed the food and took it into the box. She had a tug-o-war with the two of the nestlings and prevailed. She fed the chicks for about 8 minutes. She was on the steeple at 3:34. Ten minutes later one of the parents were giving alarm calls again. Both converged at the nest at 3:51 PM. They were together again on the State Building a few minutes later. Rainfall in late afternoon likely hampered the falcon’s hunting.
At 4:24, Ares was out of view and Astrid went from the west veranda to the roof of the nestbox. She then went to the steeple. She was moving around a lot between perches. I thought perhaps she was irritated about something, but Deb thought she was hunting. At 5:34, both Astrid and Ares were at the box again. Ares jumped onto the crossperch and then darted into the canyon at full speed. He circled, came right back and stood on the crossperch. The nestlings were getting anxious again by this time – begging and flapping a lot. A&A were back on the steeple at 5:47. Ares made another quick visit to the nest at 6:19. He was up and to the State Building a minute later. He was gone for a while and then rediscovered there at 7:16. Astrid was still on the steeple at that time, but moved to the pillar over the nest box soon after. By 9 PM, she was on the east veranda. Goodnight falcons