Astrid was on her brood (one chick & three eggs) all night last night. It rained most of the night and was seasonably chilly. Ares made no early trips to the box. Astrid left the box and the eggs at 5:30 AM. Ares arrived at the box less than a minute later and took over brooding. She quickly returned with food from Ares’ pantry – he was out and she began feeding the lone chick. At 5:42 she finished the feeding session and flew out, only to return a few minutes later. The falcons switched at 7:48 AM and Ares got a short turn on the eggs. It was very short; Astrid came back only five minutes later and sent Ares on his way.
Ares brought food to the box at 10:06. Astrid took is and began a feeding. During the feeding we thought we could hear two chicks calling but we were probably wrong about that (one from inside an egg). After taking some bites for herself she fed the chick for about 5 minutes. She took the remainder of the meal out and probably stored it. Ares came right into the box as soon as she left and started brooding. His stay was a another abbreviated one – she was back to the nest less than five minutes later. After having seen the eggs pretty well during the changeovers we came to the conclusion that there wasn’t a pipped egg after all and there was unlikely to be an imminent hatch today. The next switch took place at 1:15 PM. Ares was on duty and he started brooding the eggs and the chick – although he didn’t quite have the chick underneath him. A half-hour later he had it all figured out. He jostled the brood and got the chick beneath him. As it happened, it was the longest session Ares had on the nest since the new chick hatched. His turn ended at 1:54 when Astrid returned to the box with food. Ares stayed brooding for a moment and watched Astrid as she prepared to do a feeding. When he left he went to the State Building. Astrid fed the chick until 2:07 and then she polished off what was left over.
At 2:37 Astrid was giving chirping alarm calls. There must have been a falcon intruder in the canyon (although we didn’t see it and Ares had no reaction). She got off the nest and took off after the stranger. Ares didn’t move off of his perch until Astrid was gone, then he headed to the nest. He had a leg of some prey with him. We thought he might do a feeding, but he ate it himself upon his arrival at the box. After that he brooded the clutch until Astrid returned at 2:41. He didn’t want to leave but Astrid unceremoniously ousted him. At 6:17 Astrid was calling from the box. Ares arrived about a half-hour later and asked for a turn on the nest. She sent him away. He was visible on the north face of the State Building until well after dark. Astrid periodically jostled the eggs (and the chick) through the evening. Goodnight falcons.
