The overnight was very cool with some showers in the area. Temperatures were in the mid-40’s. Rain and cool temps continued through the day and showered were intermittent. Astrid was with the nestlings all night long. Ares brought a small food item to the box at 12:46 which could be considered early for even the earliest of early birds. Astrid took it and fed it out to the chicks. He didn’t come back to the nest until 4:50. As it happened, he didn’t have food that time but was asking for a turn on the nest. Astrid showed no sign of wanting to leave so the two parents spent about five minutes in the nest together with the chicks. Ares then flew out and went to his pillar perch. A few minutes later he was snoozing. At 5:50 he was wide awake and on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. These days that means that he was probably hunting. We hadn’t heard any alarm calls, so it was unlikely he was watching for intruders. At 6:50 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and started a feeding session as Ares hopped over to the west veranda. At 7:07 when mealtime was over Astrid went back to brooding. At 7:51 she left the nest and Ares came in to take over. She was back a minute later only to depart again in short order. It was raining again by this point – not Astrid’s favorite weather condition. At 9:23 Astrid left the box once more. She wasn’t back and brooding until close to 10:00. Five minutes later we heard Ares’ distinctive screech call from somewhere nearby. He probably flew in with prey. Astrid left the nest and, sure enough. she was back less than a minute later with a starling. She then proceeded to do a feeding. One of the chicks got a few bites from Astrid while the other tried to take its own portion from the prey itself (not successfully). At 10:11 Astrid abruptly stopped the session and left with most of the meal. She probably thought the chicks weren’t hungry enough and she turned it into her own breakfast. Ares came into the box at 10:12. He looked to be very soggy.
At 10:42 AM Astrid returned to the nest and to brooding the chicks. Ten minutes later we noticed that Ares was again back on his pillar perch. At 11:33 he suddenly darted off towards the west. At 11:46 he screeched back to the nest with prey. Astrid grabbed it and conducted a feeding while Ares hopped over to the west veranda. When the meal was over Astrid resumed brooding. At 1:12 PM Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox, most likely someone had come into the adjacent office, and she wanted to keep an eye on them just in case they were enemies of falcons. Without missing a beat Ares was back in the nest with the chicks. He was there until 2:00 when Astrid left the roof and came into the box. Ares ceded the nest and nestlings to her before sailing off. Astrid only remained with the chicks for less than two minutes. Ares happily came back quickly and resumed his chick sitting. At 2:16 we heard a loud thud sound. Astrid had just plunked down on the roof of the nestbox. Five minutes later she was on high ledge on the State Building. Ares went out onto the long perch at 2:38. The nestlings were alone in the box and squealing for a while after that. Astrid came back to the box and was brooding again at 3:24.
At 5:19 PM Ares came to the west veranda with substantial prey. Astrid scrambled over to get it. She grabbed it and flew off into the canyon, boomeranged back to the nest and began a feeding. At 5:21 Ares came into the box and watched the ensuing mealtime for about five minutes. He may have been taking notes again. At 5:34 Astrid was back to brooding. At 6:05 Ares arrived with more food. He hopped into the box this time to give it to Astrid. She took it and tried to rally the already full chicks to feed. Initially, one of them took some bites while the other flapped their rudimentary wings a few times. We think both managed to have a little since Astrid was insisting. At 6:14 Astrid resumed brooding the pair. They were pushed up in front of her, nestled in her breast feathers. It was the ideal image of the falcon family at home. At 7:35 Ares came into the box and asked for a turn with the chicks. Astrid left the nest two minutes later. At 7:43 he went to the east veranda but was back in to brood the chicks after a few moments. He sort of brooded them and even beaked with them. At about 8:00 PM Astrid came back and ousted Ares. She immediately started brooding. Likely she was set for the night. Goodnight all.