Saturday, June 6 – First full day of fledgewatch – Adults Perform Demonstration flights & Xena and Zeus Visit a Veranda for the First Time!

Astrid spent part of the night on the long perch. At 3:24 AM Ares brought something small to the box. Astrid was already on the long perch. She took it and Xena then snatched it from her. Xena brought it into the corner and ate it. At 5:25 Ares was on The State Building. Astrid was on west veranda and the nestlings were wild with excitement. At 7:05 Xena got up onto the lip of the box. She was clearly feeling her power. She did it twice more. At 7:30 Astrid brought food to the box; Xena snatched it away and took it to the back of the box where she could have it all to herself. Ares stopped at the box and then hopped to the east veranda. Through demonstration, the parents both showed the nestlings how to get to the verandas. This has traditionally been the first step to fledging. At 7:50 Astrid did the same move repeatedly – she was going between the box and the verandas.
At 8:30 AM, both parents were doing a lot of flying; they were making stops at the box and going to other favorite perches. Ares brought food to the east veranda. He left it with the chicks just as Astrid swooped up to the box. Following that, Astrid and Ares did some amazing flying. They circled the canyon while gliding easily on the wind. Their flight paths converged occasionally as they rose and descended with only the slightest wing movements. Fledgewatch volunteers were witness to some remarkable demonstration flights as Astrid and Ares showed their intended audience (the kids in the box) how to fly like a Peregrine. Over the next two hours they were seen rising on thermals, soaring very high above the canyon, setting out on hunting runs, executing dives, and stalling into landings. They both deliberately made landings on the wide window ledges on the State Building. This is something that especially Astrid almost never does unless she is in demonstration mode. They are trying to show the young birds the safest and easiest places to land when fledging. At 9:37 Ares came to the box. He appeared to make a deliberate show of jumping from the box to the cross perch. Five minutes later he brought a cuckoo to the west ledge. Astrid flew in to take the prey. She first took it to the east veranda and then into the box. She was showing the nestlings how to get to the veranda. Astrid took the cuckoo into the box and did a feeding – concentrating mostly on feeding Zeus.
At 9:51 Ares did a slow flyby of the nest as Xena was balancing herself on the lip of the box. At 10:15 both adults were soaring around the canyon again. At 10:53 Ares screeched through the canyon with something in his talons. He went to the hotel ledge. As he fed, we could see that there was a stashed Yellow-billed Cuckoo on the ledge behind him. After some particularly high flying over the canyon, Astrid made a steep dive back toward the bank. She pulled out of her dive, stalled, and floated to the box. Ten minutes later she flew off to the east on a hunting run. Moments later she flew back towards the State Building with nothing in her talons. At 11:30 Ares flew in from the east, landed on the State Building and began plucking some stored prey. A few minutes later he was in the air. We expected him to take it to the nest, but he landed on a ledge to the west of the box. There he ate his meal. At 12:46 the nestlings were giving practice alarm calls. At 2:23 PM It was Astrid’s turn to give cackle alarm calls. She flew back and forth between the bank and the State Building, but we have no idea what she was upset about. Ares have a few long calls and then started sailing slowly on the wind. He kited over the State Building and then over the steeple. At 2:36 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid came and took it, flew around the County Building and then returned to drop the prey at the box. Both parents were out of view for a while after that. At 3:18 Astrid was back on the State Building. Ares made a dramatic swoop back into the canyon and stalled into a landing near Astrid’s perch. At 4:19 Astrid took off like a bullet and made a couple of tries for a Pigeon but was unsuccessful. The pair did some soaring around the canyon after that. Astrid put on an amazing air show.
At 6:11 Astrid flew to the east ledge. She then lifted off and flew slowly in front of the box. She was trying to get the nestlings’ attention. At 6:47 Xena started getting up on the lip of the box and even onto a wooden strut beyond the lip. That was new! A few minutes later Zeus was up on the lip of the box. Both birds were flapping and Xena was looking over towards the east veranda. At 6:56 Xena walked over onto the east veranda and did some exploring. She flapped her wings and gave loud screeching calls. Not to be left out, at 7:16 Zeus went over to the east veranda as well. At 7:40 Ares came screeching into the canyon with prey. Astrid left her steeple perch and converged with Ares on the east veranda. Xena took the food and brought it to the back corner of the veranda. Zeus tried to muscle his way in to feed, but Xena wouldn’t let him through. Ares took a perch on a pillar above the box and Astrid returned to the steeple. At 7:41 Astrid was over on the hotel ledge watching for Pigeons. An hour later she made a play for one. She tail-chased one through the canyon, around the ADK Bank, to the Courthouse and then west around the bank again. Fairly nonchalantly, both nestlings, in turn, walked back into the nestbox. At 8:42 Astrid was back on the hotel plucking her catch. By 9 PM Astrid was in the nest feeding the nestlings. Goodnight all.