The overnight was balmy with temperatures staying in the mid-sixties. After sunrise there were a few light showers in the area, it was overcast and windy. The temperature was in the mid-seventies by noon and the high seventies by mid-afternoon. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but nothing more than a light rain fell on the region. Astrid was in and out of the nest area during the night. All in all, it was an active night. Ares brought food to the nest at 1:05 AM. Astrid took care of the feeding. She then brought another small meal to the box at 2:18. She came back with even more food at 2:37. That time it took the chicks a few minutes before they were interested enough to feed. By 5:00 AM Astrid was on the long perch and Ares was on the State Building. At 5:37 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid met him there, took the food, and flew off into the canyon. She then shot back to the box and did a feeding. Only one of the chicks was in line for this meal; the other was standing by but not vying and Astrid wasn’t trying to entice him. The chick that wasn’t feeding did a lot of wing flapping instead. At 5:48 Astrid left with the uneaten portion of the meal. Both parents were on the State Building at 6:08 and then Ares darted off to the northwest, probably after prey. At 6:55 Ares was back in the box. He picked up some food scraps on the floor of the nest and started trying to feed one of the chicks. Astrid burst into the box and attempted to take it away from him, but he jumped out of the nest carrying the scrap with him. At 7:46 Astrid was up on the roof of the nestbox – obviously anticipating people being in offices. At 8:40 Ares showed up with prey. Astrid hopped down to take it and conducted a feeding. At 9:00 Ares brought more food. Astrid took it, flew away, came back and then flew off with it once more. That time she likely went to store it. By 9:20 Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox.
The next feeding was at 11:40. Astrid had gotten the prey from Ares. Shen returned to the box roof once mealtime was over. At 12:10 PM both parents were on the State Building. Thirty minutes later Astrid was to the nestbox roof again. At 2:31 Ares came to the long perch for a chick check. The nestlings squealed when they saw him and then their excitement evolved into wing flapping. The presumed male chick was seen biting at his sister’s tail and then footing her (grabbing at her with his foot). This was the first time that behavior has been seen. The pair also did some beaking. At 2:41 Astrid came to the nest with food. She proceeded to dole it out to the eager chicks. At 2:55 Ares screeched to the nest. He hopped inside and tried to hand out some scraps from the floor (which appeared to be mostly feathers). He then spent an extended time on the long perch guarding the nest. At 4:00 Astrid came to the crossperch, and really got the chicks excited. They squealed and flapped. She then assumed her guard position on the box roof. At 5:21 PM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid grabbed it and did another lively feeding session. Increasingly, the nestlings are becoming interested in what happens in the world outside of the box. Their vision keeps improving and now they can track flying objects (mainly other birds and their parents) as they traverse the canyon. This evening both nestlings’ heads moved in sync as they tracked their mother flying by the nestbox. They also are beginning to see their parents coming from far away and they react by calling out and squealing. At 7:56 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and conducted what would most probably be the last feeding of the day. By 8:45 PM Astrid was guarding the box from the west veranda perch. Goodnight falcons.