Update for Thursday, May 16, 2024
The nestlings continue to develop rapidly. We are now seeing the beginnings of a fringe of wing feathers on the chicks. Their behavior is changing too. They now have better visual abilities. They can peer into the Canyon to veiw their parents’ exciting exploits. They now react with excitement when a parent flies towards the nestbox. They have also just begun utilizing most of the nest floor – moving around in a more coordinated manner. As for the floor of the box, it is becoming covered with the feathers of prey. Many of the species the feathers belonged to can be identified. Most obvious are the feathers of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Northern Flicker, Virgina Rail, and Blue Jay. Astrid brought in the Virginia Rail in the late morning. Undoubtable, the rail was caught by Ares as he hunted the Mohawk River Floodplain. Astrid had only gotten a few minutes into the rail feeding when she suddenly picked up the food again and left – cackling loudly as she went. We checked around with our PTZ camera, But couldn’t locate any intruder or Astrid and Ares for that matter. Of course, before long they returned to the north face of the State Building, none-the-worse for the adventure.
