Astrid was at the box area for most of the night. Ares was visible on the State Building part of the time. At 2:58 AM Ares brought a small prey item to the nestbox. Astrid did the feeding. He brought something else small at 3:42. Astrid handled that feeding too. Before that meal was over, Ares was back with more prey, He took it into the box and picked at it for a few minutes. When Astrid was finished feeding out what she had, she took his offering and served it to the nestlings. At 5:28 we noticed that Ares was perched on the west side of the State Building. Astrid was guarding the nest from the east veranda. At 5:45 Ares landed on the east veranda without food. Astrid entered the box and the chicks whipped themselves into a frenzy – no doubt anticipating another feeding. Xena found a scrap of food on the floor and Astrid hopped over to take it. She the gave it to Zeus who ate it. Meanwhile Xena was biting Astrid’s tail and trying to stomp on it.
We heard Ares’ characteristic screech call in the canyon at 7:22. He brought a hunk of food to the nest. No sooner did Astrid take it into the box than Xena snatched it away and took it into the corner. There she picked at it. At 7:38 Ares brought another meal to the nest. Astrid did the feeding. At 10:15 the nestlings were calling a lot. Astrid was on the west veranda at that point. At 11:00 one of the chicks was giving cackle-type calls. They are sounding more like their parents every day. Astrid and Ares did chick-checks a lot through early afternoon. Temperatures soared into the 90’s. It was the hottest afternoon yet. At 1:31 Ares was sunning himself on the east veranda. Astrid came into the box at about that time. The nestlings were rambunctious and bit at her tail. Ten minutes later, chirping alarm calls were heard in the canyon. It was Ares calling from the State Building. He must have been reacting to a Peregrine intruder. He flew into action and was soon out if sight.
At 3:00 Astrid was providing shade in the box although the nestlings weren’t taking advantage of her shade. Astrid was occasionally shading the eggs during that session. At 3:11 she shaded Zeus for a little while. At 3:44 Ares finally brought food to the nest, but Astrid sent him away. Obviously, they don’t like feeding the nestlings in these conditions. At 4:42 one of the chicks cackled in the box. At that time Astrid was panting and her posture was more reclined. Ares came to the box at 5:06 and for a little while both him and Astrid did shading duty at the same time. Astrid was at the hotel ledge at 5:20. We think she was looking for a puddle to bathe in. She was on the steeple twenty minutes later. At 6:03 Astrid was at the nest, relieving Ares. She spent some time shading the eggs. Ares came to the crossperch at 7:24. He had no prey with him. At 8:20 Astrid had prey on the hotel, but she ate the whole thing and brought nothing back to the nest. Finally, at 10:44 Astrid brought food to the box, but one of the chicks snatched it from her and brought it into the corner. She didn’t try to get it back. Both chicks picked at it a little but they aren’t yet proficient at feeding themselves. Astrid was back at 11:44 PM. She had a small prey item and she was able to carry out a feeding. Ares brought something more sizable at 11:52, but it was grabbed away by a chick and taken to the corner. Goodnight all.
