Astrid guarded the nest all night. It was warm and the nestlings didn’t require brooding. Ares was visible on the State Building for part of the night. His first food delivery of the day came at 4:52 AM. Astrid grabbed it from him – or at least we think she took it. She flew out of the box and was on the State Building a minute later. She then came back to feed the chicks at 4:57. We assume it was the same meal that Ares had brought. At 6:45 the nestlingsdid some walking and wing flapping, and we could see the very beginning of feathers emerging on their wings. Their walking was becoming more coordinated and they were also starting to preen themselves. At 5:53 Astrid was on the crossperch giving donkey calls. Ares arrived a minute later, but without food. He looked around the box for scraps but couldn’t find any. As he moved in to brood the nestlings, they both bit at his bill. At 8:36 Astrid was feeding the chicks. We missed the food delivery. Perhaps she came in with it.
At 8:56 we heard Ares screech through the canyon. He brought food to the box five minutes later. Astrid snatched it and handled the feeding. Astrid was in, out, and then in again during the next hour. Temperatures were rising quickly (up to 80 degrees today!) and the parents didn’t need to be in the box much. They were both doing periodic check-ins. At 11:15 Astrid began getting anxious about people moving around in offices near the nest box. This happens every year when the chicks reach this stage of development. She kept jumping up onto the roof of the nestbox which was odd. She was then going onto the verandas and giving dirty looks towards the office windows. At 12:15 PM she was very upset again and got on the roof of the box once more. She swooped back and forth in front of the building a few times and then went back to the west veranda. At 12:23 Ares brought a goldfinch to the box. Astrid took a break from hazing the windows to feed the chicks. She was back to swooping right after the meal was complete. She continued hazing activities for another fifteen minutes before finally calming down. At 1 PM one of the nestlings gave a cackle call. It was the second time in a couple of days we had heard that happen. It was just practice.
At 1:45 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox again. We weren’t sure why. Probably someone walked too close to a window again. She was feeding the chicks again at 2:00 PM. The parents just did short check-ins for a while after that. A thunderstorm was threatening at 4:40. The sky had darkened and the wind was getting intense. Astrid arrived at the box at 4:43 just as the rain began. She guarded them as heavy rain pelted the nest. Ares rode out the storm on a ledge on the north face of the State Building. A very wet Ares arrived at the box with a Blue Jay in his talons at 6:12. Astrid took the prey and fed it out to the nestlings. Both parents did short check-ins at the box a few times after that. Astrid spent some time on the steeple. At 7:12 she came to the box for the night and assumed guard duty. Ares was visible on the State Building for part of the night. Goodnight falcons.
