As expected, Astrid spent most of the night in close proximity to the nest. Much of the time she was on the west veranda. Ares was visible for part of the night. There were no overnight feedings. At 5:30 AM the nestlings began stirring and vocalizing in the box. Astrid had moved from the west veranda to the State Building. Ares wasn’t seen until 5:32 when we found him on a steeple perch. Ten minutes later both parents were up. Astrid flew around the State Building checking Ares’ pantry. Astrid then came to the box, but without food. The nestlings were hungry and their begging calls became more shrill. At 6 AM we heard Ares screeching from his steeple perch. Astrid was out on a hunting run shortly after that. At 6:23 both parents were on the hotel. Astrid was plucking a freshly caught Pigeon. Five minutes later she flew over and plunked it down on the floor of the box. After a short tug-o-war session with Xena, Astrid managed a relatively civil feeding. It was a long meal. She essentially fed them until they turned away and didn’t want anymore. She took the leftovers out and possibly stored them. The chicks had huge crops. At 7:06, only a few minutes after Astrid had left the box, Ares arrived with food. The nestlings couldn’t possibly eat any more, and Astrid knew this. She met Ares at the box, took his food offering and flew into the canyon with it. She most likely stored it somewhere.
One and often both parents remained visible in the canyon for much of the morning. There were several chick-checks done, but no feedings. At noon, Xena did some serious wing flapping. She and her brother were active intermittently through the afternoon – exercising a fair amount and reacting whenever they saw their parents flying in the canyon. At 2:36 Astrid was feeding the chicks. The prey was a Sanderling – a species of shorebird. Evidently Ares flushed one up somewhere around the Mohawk River floodplain. It was the first Sanderling that we have known Ares to catch. At one point she handed Xena the entire wing of the bird. At 2:43 Astrid took the leftovers out with her. At 4:35 Astrid was feeding the nestlings again. We weren’t sure where this meal came from or if Astrid caught it or Ares brought it. Rain and a stiff wind hit downtown before the meal was over. Astrid spent part of the storm exposed and out on the crossperch. The last meal of the day came in at 7:10 PM and was brought by Astrid. After spending much of the evening on the west veranda, Astrid flew over to the State Building and perched there until at least midnight. Ares had been on a wide window ledge on the same building until around 10:20 when he moved to a thinner ledge on the same building. We thought the show was over for the night, but then at 11:45, Ares brought something small to the nest. Astrid did not come over to meet him. Ares handed the food to Xena. She took it into the corner where she began to pick at it. After a few minutes Zeus joined her. Ares returned to the State Building and perched not far from Astrid. Goodnight falcons and falcon folks.
