Astrid guarded the box for much of the night as expected. At 12:08 Astrid brought prey to the nest (it was probably something from Ares’ pantry) and fed the chicks. When the meal was finished she fed out the last prey item that Ares brought – that was one a nestling had snatched and brought into a corner. Ares came to the nest with more food at 2:47. Astrid met him at the box, grabbed the food and did the feeding. At 5:40 AM Xena and Zeus were looking out into the canyon. They were reclined and had their chins resting on the lip of the box. At 5:50 Astrid was at the nest feeding the chicks some scraps from the floor of the box. She was on the ledge of the hotel a few minutes later – apparently in hunting mode. At 6:06 Ares screeched to the east veranda. The nestlings both called in response to seeing and hearing him. At 6:23 Ares screeched a few more times and then joined Astrid on the north face of the State Building. He came to the box with food at 6:26. Astrid met him on the crossperch, took the food and carried out a feeding. Zeus was first in the chow line as he so often is.
At 7:08 Ares was back with another meal. Astrid took it from him on the east veranda and flew off into the canyon. She came right back and began feeding the nestlings only to abruptly stop and dive out of the box again. She did that five more times until finally settling down to feed the chicks. Major renovations on the building across the street have been going on for several weeks and today they had scaffolding set up on the north side of the building. Loud equipment sounds were relentless throughout the day. Astrid was on the crossperch for quite a while after the meal – guarding her nest and young. The next feeding took place at 11:25. Ares brought in the prey and Astrid handled the feeding. At 12:46 PM Astrid was irritated again. This time it was because someone looked out an office window not far from the nestbox. Astrid responded by hazing the 15th floor windows. She got over it fast enough and settled down in the box with the nestlings. At some point the parents switched and it was Ares in the box with the kids. Sometime before 3 PM they had switched again, and Astrid was on shading duty. Yes, and she was shading the eggs again for some reason. For the most part Zeus and Xena didn’t take advantage of their mother’s shadow, instead they traveled back and forth between the two shady corners of the box.
A feeding (by Astrid) happened at 6:10. Ares brought a small prey item over; Astrid took it and began a feeding as he hopped over to the west veranda. The feeding was over quickly, and a little later Astrid had gone to a steeple perch. At 7:52 Astrid was on the hotel ledge. She again appeared to be in hunting mode. As for the nestlings, both were laying down with chins resting on the lip of the box – watching and waiting for the next delivery to arrive. Astrid came to the crossperch at 8:14 and Xena squealed at her for a while. Astrid spent the latter part of the evening guarding the box from the longperch. Ares had been visible on the north face of the State Building but then was gone. Perhaps he was doing some nighttime hunting. At 11:11, Ares came to the nest with something small in his talons. Astrid took it and quickly served it to the chicks. Xena was not satisfied and afterwards complained to Astrid while Zeus picked at something in the corner. Goodnight falcons and all.
