It was another steaming hot day in the canyon with temperatures reaching 80 degrees by the end of the morning. In downtown it was better than 90 by midafternoon. As best we can tell, Astrid had spent the night close to the box. My recordings had turned off at some point, so I’m not sure what happened between midnight and 3:00 AM. However, at 3:00 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and fed the chicks. At 4:06 Ares landed on the east veranda with more food. Astrid accepted it and served it to the nestlings. The same thing occurred at 4:15; he brought more prey and she doled it out. At 5:05 Ares screeched to the box. Astrid wasn’t there; we located her on the hotel feeding on a Pigeon. She brought the meal to the nest a minute later and started a feeding. One of the bigger chicks was helping itself to food while Astrid concentrated on feeding the other two. This is early to see self-feeding in nestlings. At 5:22 (the feeding was still going on), the smallest chick was trying to swallow some large gangly thing. After he tried for a minute, Astrid took it from him. She tried to break it up, but then decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and swallowed it herself.
At 6:26 AM Astrid was on the east veranda staring into an office window and waiting for someone inside to make a false move. At 7:48 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings. Obviously, guarding the nest area from people in offices still remains a top priority for her. At 10:15 Astrid came down from the roof of the nestbox to take the prey Ares just brought. She then proceeded to do a feeding. When it was done, she was back up to the roof of the box. At 11:43 she became upset about something and began cackling. Ten minutes later Ares brought what looked like a female American Redstart to the nest. Astrid took it and did a feeding. The meal disappeared quickly. At 11:54, he brought another small bird – this one looked like a swallow. Astrid took it and conducted another fast feeding. At noon Astrid went to an east ledge and from there to the east veranda where she monitored the office for movement again. At 12:40 Ares returned with another meal. Astrid flew off upon his arrival. He hopped into the box like he was going to do a feeding, but then Astrid returned, swiped the food from him and got the chick’s mealtime underway. At 12:45 we heard one of the chicks practice its cackle calling. It’s really coming along. Ares screeched over to the crossperch right afterwards – perhaps in reaction to the cackle. Afterwards he went over to the east veranda. Unlike his mate, Ares doesn’t seem to care about what people do in their offices. At 1:19 Ares screeched over to the nest again. After being out of view for a little while, Astrid went to her steeple perch.
At 1:30 PM Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox, and from there to the west veranda, and back to staring at an office window. At 2:03 Ares was in the box and providing shade for the chicks. The sun was starting to come into the box and, with the temperature already ninety, it was getting very uncomfortable in the nest. Astrid took over for him shortly after. At 2:44 Ares brought a Blue Jay to the box. Astrid took it, flew off with it, and then came right back to the box. Before the feeding she did some furious feather plucking. It looked like she was doing it in fast motion. The chicks gazed around the box, distracted by the feathers floating around them. After the meal Astrid flew out with a hunk of leftovers. She was back in the box a few minutes later and trying to shade the chicks. They were being difficult – squabbling and complaining. She was having a hard time shading more than one of them at a time. At 3:15 Ares came to the nest with a freshly caught goldfinch. Astrid took it and fed it to the chicks. At 3:40 she was on the east veranda for a while – just staring at the window. At 4:00 she was back in the box and shading – or trying to shade. She did that for about ninety minutes; until the sun was not flooding directly into the box anymore. At 5:38 Ares took over shading for a little while. Astrid went to her steeple perch but kept her eye on the nest. Astrid came into the box with leftovers at 6:06. Ares left before she began doling out the meal. When the food was gone Astrid went to the steeple. At 7:40 Ares was guarding the box and Astrid had shifted to the south facing steeple perch. She was trying to bring up a pellet. At 8:38 she had come to the long perch and that’s likely where she would be spend the night. Ares was on the State Building and remained visible there until quite late. Goodnight Falcons
