Astrid guarded the nest for most of the night. At 1:59 AM Ares brought food to the box. Astrid grabbed it and flew off. She didn’t come back to feed the nestlings until an hour later (3:03). It was a small meal and she was done in only a few minutes. Ares returned with another course at 3:36. Astrid snatched it from him and fed the nestlings. At 5:31 there was another feeding going on. We weren’t sure where that meal came from – whether it was a drop off by Ares or if Astrid brought it in. After the feeding one of the chicks tried to step on Astrid’s tail and bit at it a few times. At just before 6 AM Astrid was feeding out a few scraps she found on the floor of the box
Throughout the day the parents kept a close watch on the nest site. Ares and Astrid took turns hunting, but while one was gone the other was sure to be close by. Astrid continues to be enamored with the roof of the nest box. She first began venturing up there a few days ago because she was upset about people visible in nearby offices, but now she’s decided that she likes it up there. At 9:06 we could hear the nestlings practicing their cackle-type alarm calls. At that point Astrid left the roof of the box, hopped down onto the long perch, and from there went to the west veranda. At the time, Ares was guarding from the east veranda. They were like two gargoyles (or griffins) on either side of the box. At 9:14 Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid handled the feeding. At 10:30 Ares came to the nest with more food. Astrid took it from him, flew around the canyon and then returned to the nest to feed the chicks. It appeared to be a fresh cuckoo. Another feeding happened at 11: 10. We weren’t sure who brought the meal in, but we think it was Astrid.
At 2:00 PM Ares was giving chirp-type alarm calls. There was likely a falcon intruder in the canyon, and he flew out to deal with it. Astrid was next seen on the steeple at 2:20 and Ares showed up at the box 20 minutes later. The afternoon became hot (85 degrees) and sun was flooding into the nestbox. Ares came into the box to provide shade for the chicks. Interestingly, he didn’t bother with the unviable eggs this time (well, not for long anyway). He was making shade, but the chicks were more interested in staying in the box’s corners. Astrid had handled the afternoon shading the day before, so it made sense Ares was doing it this time. As it happened, he did a remarkably good job. By 4:00 he was shading the larger chick. Astrid spent the latter part of the afternoon hunting from the steeple perch. She seemed intent on getting a Pigeon. At 5:44 PM she had one on the hotel ledge. A moment later she was feeding the chicks at the nest. Ares was back in the box making shade at 6:00 – for a little while anyhow. At 6:30 Astrid showed up on the steeple. She was soaked. Evidently she had taken a bath somewhere. It wasn’t on the hotel ledge this time – there wasn’t any puddle there. Late in the evening, she was on the long perch and Ares was on the north face of the State Building. Goodnight all.
